Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A rescheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 7:00 pm in Meeting Room 313 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: David Pelletier, Christine Michelini, Stan Franzeen, Jeff Bellin, Dan Shuman, Jerry Judge, and Rachel Hunt. Also present was Staff Planner Frank Taormina and the City’s hired engineering consultant Gary Hebert from Fay, Spofford & Thorndike Engineers (FST).
Members Absent: Nancy Sachetti and William Peck
Public in Attendance: none
In the brief absence of Chairman Shuman, Committee Member Jeff Bellin assumed chair and opened the meeting at 7:05 pm.
J. Bellin pointed out an error on page one (1) of the minutes. Discussion regarding the error ensued. S. Franzeen made a motion to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by J. Bellin and approved unanimously.
No public comments were taken, as there was no one in attendance that evening.
- Salem Citywide Bike Plan – Task A and B
Chairman Shuman welcomed Gary Hebert a traffic engineer from Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike Engineering (FST) for attending tonight’s committee meeting and turned the meeting over to him.
Gary Hebert (FST) prepared a power point presentation for the Committee to review items relative to Task A and Task B of the Citywide Bike Plan.
Chairman Shuman mentioned that there is a lot on the agenda tonight and asked if the Committee Members could hold their questions until Gary Hebert (FST) finished his entire power point presentation he had prepared for the Committee.
G. Hebert (FST) continued with the power point presentation.
G. Hebert (FST) discussed the various different types of pavement markings that could be used to delineate an on-road bike lane or route. He also mentioned that State Regulations requires bike lanes to be setbacks at least a certain distance from a curb or from a parked cars, etc.
Chairman Shuman stated that he believes that it is a $200 fine if someone in a parked car opens their door into a bike lane and hits a cyclist riding by.
G. Hebert (FST) stated that he met with Committee Member David Pelletier on Friday Morning, March 20, 2009 and together they drove the entire stretch of the proposed green line bikeway, and then some. G. Hebert mentioned that along the way he took photos of critical areas and he inserted those into his power point presentation to review with the Committee. One of the areas that G. Hebert felt was critical was passing the proposed bikeway through the Salem Commons. He stated that the Committee and/or the City must consult with the City’s Historical Commission and the Neighborhood Association to discuss the plan. He feels that designated paths with tasteful and minimal signage would work best through the historic area. He also mentioned that as a worst case scenario, the Committee should
also think about an alterative route around the Salem Common, perhaps using Washington Square to get to Andrews Street.
D. Pelletier mentioned that people ride their bike through Salem Common now, and at worst if the Salem Historic Committee and or the Neighborhood Association is not amenable to bike route signs in the Common, that we locate a sign at the entrance and one at the exit and let riders pick their own path through the Common.
D. Pelletier also mentioned that this proposed bike route should be affordable and doable. The signs and pavement markings should be done first and the other more costly recommendations to implement this route should be done later.
G. Hebert (FST) agreed and stated that his estimate to implement the bike route would reflect that. Signs and pavement markings would be first and construction items such as widening existing off-road routes and paving unpaved off-road routes, etc, could be done as funds are available.
J Judge mentioned that he is concerned with creating a Contra Flow Bike Lane through Andrews Street to connect cyclist from the Salem Willows to Collins Cove. He fears that people that live on Andrews Street will only look one way when entering or exiting their driveways and could conflict with riders going the opposite direction.
Discussion regarding the legality of Contra Flow Bike Lanes, or two-way bike traffic on a One Way Road continued.
J. Bellin mentioned that the combination of bike route signs and pavement markings along the street will alert residents and should assist in deterring conflict.
C. Michelini agreed and stated that pedestrians that walk on the sidewalk can and do encounter the same kind of conflict as well, but it doesn’t mean that they cannot walk on the sidewalk.
G. Hebert (FST) stated that he will double check the State Regulations and legality of Contra Flow Bike Lanes, but he has seen them used successfully elsewhere, and at this point, is recommending that Andrews Street be utilized as a Contra Flow Bike Lane to connect the bike route from Salem Commons to Collins Cove.
F. Taormina mentioned that in addition to legality of the Contra Flow Bike Lane, the Committee should discuss this with the Lt. Preczewski, Salem Police Dept Traffic Division, and the Ward Councilor Mike Sosnowski.
G. Hebert (FST) finished reviewing the rest of the bike route slides. He asked the Committee how they prefer to designate the bike routes citywide. Discussion amongst the Committee Members ensued.
D. Pelletier stated that he liked the combination of the Green Bike Route Sign w/Bike Logo and directional destination sign underneath, as shown in the power point presentation slide, but offered that the color of the sign could change for each proposed bike route.
R. Hunt stated that there is too much overlap and that the bike route signs should all be uniform and perhaps use colors and patterns to designate the bike routes on the updated Citywide Bike Path /Bike Routes Map.
R. Hunt made a motion that the Committee supports the use of the combination of the Green Bike Route Sign w/Bike Logo and directional destination sign underneath, as shown in the power point presentation slides. Seconded by D. Pelletier and approved unanimously.
Chairman Shuman stated that there was only 5 minutes left before the meeting would end and that there was one more item on the agenda: Committee Assignments.
G. Hebert (FST) mentioned that he would like the Committee to perform some tasks to assist him. He asked the Committee to reach out to the Neighborhood Association, the Historical Commission, Ward Councilor, Police Department, other area residents, etc about the planned bike route.
G. Hebert (FST) mentioned that at the next meeting in May, he would like to discuss other citywide bike route possibilities.
Chairman Shuman asked G. Hebert (FST) what you need from the Committee in order to finalize the proposed bikeway. G. Hebert responded by saying that he needs to committee to get feedback from the various abutters and affected groups.
D. Pelletier volunteered to put together an informational piece that could be forwarded to everyone. G. Hebert (FST) and F. Taormina asked if they could review the informational piece prior to its dissemination.
Adjournment
The Old/New Business items on the agenda were continued to the May Meeting. Chairman Shuman asked for a motion to close the public meeting. J. Bellin made a motion to adjourn, seconded by J. Judge and approved unanimously. The meeting was officially adjourned at 8:38 pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Staff Planner/Harbor Coordinator
BPC 4-1-2009
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