City of Lawrence

Lawrence – Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee

October 21, 2014 Minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Lisa Hallberg, Erin Paden, Bill Anderson, Justin Eddings, Jacki Becker, David Hamby, Jim MacMurray

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Dan Ashley

STAFF PRESENT:

Jessica Mortinger

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Rod Hernandez

 

1.   Call Meeting to Order and Introductions

The meeting was called to order at 5:04 p.m. A quorum was present and introductions were made. Members welcomed Jim MacMurray to the committee.

 

2.   Action Item: Approval of the August 19th Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes from August was moved by Bill Anderson, seconded by Lisa Hallberg and passed unanimously.

 

3.   Discussion Item: Pedestrian & Bikeability Summit

Erin Paden shared the Lawrence Pedestrian Coalition plans for a Summit in March 2015. She passed out a letter provided from the Lawrence Pedestrian Coalition. The letter requested response about the levels of participation and engagement that the group desired in the summit. Jessica Mortinger mentioned that the Health Department had secured funding to bring in a National speaker for the topic of Safe Routes to Schools for the summit and that the Pedestrian Coalition might be looking for some commitments to help facilitate and plan the event. Members discussed their individual interest in planning and facilitating the event. Based on the options provided in the letter BAC members decided to endorse and participate in the event and leave individual commitments to help facilitate up to each member. A motion was made by Erin Paden to endorse and participate in the Pedestrian & Bikeability Summit. The motion was seconded by Lisa Hallberg and passed unanimously.

 

4.   Discussion Item: Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts

Jessica Mortinger shared with the BAC the 2014 counts and projections. She mentioned that the MPO is working on a map of projected counts and a memo following the completion of the 6 year of counts. Jessica thanked members for volunteering to count. She noted that some numbers were lower than expected this year, which is likely due to the unpredictable September weather and high rain forecasts most weeks.

 

5.   Discussion Item: 9th Street Celebration Ride

Justin Eddings, Bill Anderson and Erin Paden attended the ride, which had a total of 10 participants. Members discussed inviting commissioners and other advisory committee members, such as Traffic Safety Commission members to future rides.

 

6.   Discussion Item: Traffic Safety Commission

Erin Paden shared that she and Jessica Mortinger had attended the most recent Traffic Safety Commission meeting. There were two relevant BAC items on the agenda, the first was the No Parking in the Bike Lane Ordinance, which was approved and will be on a future Lawrence City Commission agenda. The second was the letter from the BAC to the Lawrence City Commission that was a follow up to the Coordination meeting the BAC hosted in June. The Traffic Safety Commissioner received that letter and discussed the timeline expected for the creation of the taskforce.

 

7.   Other Business/ Updates

SRTS Mapping -Jessica Mortinger shared the online map being developed by staff for the Safe Routes to School planning process. A draft version of the map can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/1tZ9hYN

 

League Certified Instructor Training- Jessica Mortinger indicated that the Lawrence Douglas County

Health Department would be developing an application process to decide who the 8 sponsored League Certified Instructors would be for the Lawrence hosted course. Other people could likely get funding sponsorships to get trained, but the funding the Health Department was awarded covers 8 participants.

  

BAC – Vacancy- There is one City of Lawrence vacancy currently on the BAC.      

 

Eudora Elementary School- Shared Use Path – Justin Eddings shared the alignment of the newly installed Shared Use Path, which improves bicycle and pedestrian access to Eudora Elementary School.

 

David Hamby shared a professional work experience he had where after sidewalks were built near the Edgerton Logistics Park, use of the facility was observed. Proving the “build it and they will come” motto in regard to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

 

Lawrence Public Library Bicycle Parking – Erin Paden shared that she had attended the City Commission meeting where the Library’s revised parking plan was approved. Jessica Mortinger noted that the additional bicycle parking had not been installed. Members discussed the need to follow up if there was adequate parking after some time has passed and all the parking has been installed.

 

8.   Public Comments

There were none.

 

9.   Adjournment of Meeting and Announcement of Next Meeting

The meeting ended at 5:55 p.m. The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for November 18, 2014 at 5PM.