Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A regular scheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, May 13, 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, and Jerry Judge. 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, Rachel Hunt, and William Peck
Public in Attendance: Ward 2 Councilor Michael Sosnowski
Chairman Shuman called the meeting to order at 7:13 PM
S. Franzeen made a motion to approve the April 1, 2009 Meeting Minutes, seconded by J. Bellin and approved unanimously.
No public comments were taken at this time.
Chairman Shuman acknowledged Councilor Sosnowski and asked him if he had any questions or concerns relative to the proposed green line bikeway, which was discussed in detail at the last meeting as a priority pilot bike route.
Councilor Sosnowski mentioned that he understood why the committee wanted to pass the bike lane through Andrews Street because it provides the most efficient connection from the Salem Commons to the existing bike path at Collins Cove. His only concern was that Andrews Street is a one way street and that traffic entering Andrews Street from Webb Street is rather dangerous.
Gary Hebert, a traffic engineer from Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike Engineering (FST) on contract with the City to assist the Committee/City with the formulation of a Citywide Bicycle Circulation Master Plan explained to the City Councilor that this priority pilot route is only in a feasibility stage and not a final design. He briefly explained to the City Councilor what a contra-flow bike lane is and how to properly sign a contra-flow lane to minimize conflict and keep cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles safe.
G. Hebert (FST) showed the Councilor several pictures and slides from a past power point presentation relative to the priority pilot route and this specific matter and how to engineer the bike lane accordingly to keep it safe.
Councilor Sosnowski asked that the Committee show the proposed bike lane to Lieutenant Preczewski at the Salem Police Department Traffic Division to get his recommendation on a contra-flow bike lane on Andrews Street. The Committee agreed to do so.
Councilor Sosnowski asked how the Committee can connect all the fragmented bike paths in the City.
F. Taormina stated that that is what the Citywide Bike Circulation Plan will address. G. Hebert (FST) elaborated further.
Councilor Sosnowski thanked the Committee and the City’s hired Engineer for answering his questions and would appreciate being kept-in-the-loop on the progress of this proposed priority bike route.
G. Hebert (FST) stated that the priority pilot bike route now needs to be fine tuned so that it could be reviewed/approved by all the various permitting authorities, routed to all the affected neighborhood associations in the City, and proposed to the Salem Police Department pursuant to the City Councilor requested. All of this would need to occur prior to FST preparing a cost estimate and implementation schedule.
G. Hebert (FST) mentioned that he would now focus the rest of the meeting on exploring other interconnecting bike lanes through Salem’s streets. To that effect, G. Hebert prepared a brief power point presentation for the Committee. Additionally, G. Hebert showed the Committee a citywide chart/map of crashes involving bicycles in Salem from 2003-2007.
S. Franzeen asked about bike commuting. G. Hebert (FST) replied by stated that the bike lanes would be for commuting and recreation.
J. Bellin stated that one concern he has always had is trying to educate vehicular traffic that bicycles belong on the road. G. Hebert (FST) replied by starting that all the bike routes proposed will be marked with a combination of signs and pavement markings that let drivers know that they need to share the road with bicyclists. The more bike lanes in that are implemented in the City, the more visible it will be to drivers that they need to acknowledge bikes and share the road with them.
G. Hebert (FST) showed the Committee pictures of the first bike lane in Salem, which was recently striped and signed in the City as part of the improvements to the lower part of Lafayette Street from Salem State College to the Town of Marblehead line. He explained that FST engineered the improvements for the City and since they were also on contract with the City in the preparation of a Citywide Bike Circulation Plan, they incorporated a bike lane on this stretch of roadway improvements. This bike lane also crosses the Salem Bike Path, which is the beginning part of the priority bike route (green line bikeway).
After the brief power point presentation, G. Hebert broke up the Committee into three (3) groups of two (2), each armed with markers and a large map of the City of Salem showing all the city streets. He asked that the committee identify other inter or intra community bike routes onto the map. He stated that they should mark routes where Class I bike facility (off-road bike paths), Class II bike facility (on-road bike lanes), or Class III bike facility (on-road bike sharrow) routing make sense.
After 20 minutes, the Committee re-grouped and G. Hebert (FST) compared findings and ranked the proposed bike facilities.
G. Hebert (FST) stated that he would now take all the maps and all compile all the findings, along with FST’s recommended routes into a chart and map for the committee to review/approve at the next meeting.
4. Old/New Business
Chairman Shuman asked the Committee if they would support the Witch’s Cup Bike Race in Salem on August 12, 2009 at the Salem Commons by putting their name on the race banner. A motion was made by J. Bellin to support the event and allow the race committee to put the Salem Bike Path Committee on the race event banner, seconded by J. Judge and approved unanimously.
F. Taormina reminded the committee that instead of holding their own Bike Safety Event this year they agreed to participate in an existing City event with a built in audience. He stated that he signed the Committee up for the Living Green Fair hosted by the City of Salem Renewable Energy Task Force, Salem Main Streets, and the Salem Chamber of Commerce.~~The 2nd Annual~Living Green Fair~will be held on~Saturday, June 13th from 10AM - 3PM @ Old Town Hall.~ He asked is anyone from the Committee could participate in the event on behalf of the Committee. Chairman Shuman and S. Franzeen
agreed to be present~for the event. F. Taormina stated that he would ask the other Committee Members that were not present at tonight’s meeting. Once he confirmed who would be present for the event, he would work out the details of the event with them.
Adjournment
Chairman Shuman asked for a motion to close the public meeting. S. Franzeen made a motion to adjourn, seconded by C. Michelini and approved unanimously. The meeting was officially adjourned at 8:34 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Staff Planner/Harbor Coordinator
BPC 5-13-2009
| 
