Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A regular scheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room 313 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: Dan Shuman, Jeff Bellin, David Pelletier, Ernest DeMaio, Christine Michelini, and Jamie Metsch. Also present was Staff Planner Frank Taormina
Members Absent: David Hallowes and William Peck
Public in Attendance: None
Chairman Shuman called the meeting to order at 7:14 PM and he acknowledged those members absent and present for the record. For the record, the Committee does not meeting during the month of August (summer break) and the Sept 8, 2010 Meeting was cancelled.
J. Bellin made a motion to approve the July 14, 2010 Meeting Minutes, seconded by D. Pelletier and approved unanimously.
None
- 2010 MAPC Bike Parking Program
F. Taormina reiterated to the Committee that the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the State regional planning agency, is offering another round of funding for bike parking equipment. This program provides municipalities in the MAPC Region with the opportunity to purchase eligible bike parking equipment from three different manufactures and receive full reimbursement for the purchase price. However, the City must cover the cost of shipping and installation. In the first year of this program (2007), the Committee focusing on installing bike racks in downtown Salem. The Committee selected fifty-four (54) locations to install bike racks. Three different styles were selected to offer Salem residents and visitors convenient and safe bike parking opportunities in downtown Salem while
promoting alternative transportation. The bike racks were installed on November 7, 2007.
F. Taormina explained that for this round of funding MAPC is not allocating a figure amount for each community in the MAPC Region based on their population, as they did in 2007. But instead permitting communities to drawn down funds on a first come, first serve basis.
F. Taormina laid out a large map of Salem identifying all the streets, City parks, and public schools in the City. The Committee identified locations on the map where they would like to install more bike racks. The Committee agreed to use the three existing bike rack types in the locations identified. In general most of the new bike rack locations were in public parks, public schools, other downtown Salem locations. In total, the Committee identified 61 bike rack locations throughout the City: 38 U-Racks, 14 Parking Meter Racks, and 9 Vintage Racks.
J. Metsch asked if there could be some attention given to the exact locations so that the bike racks do not clutter the built environment.
F. Taormina stated that he will keep that in mind as the exact locations are determined. Additionally, he stated that he will have to have most locations approved by various boards and commissions, such as Historical Commission, Salem Redevelopment Authority, Design Review Board, Parks and Recreation Commission, and likely the School Committee. He noted that each board and Commission, depending on the location, will weigh in on the type and location of the bike racks as well.
F Taormina informed the Committee that he left a message with Dave Loutzenheiser at MAPC regarding how much money is still available for communities. Provided that there is enough money available to purchase all the bike racks identified by the Committee then he would move forward with seeking the approvals necessary to install them all. If there is not enough money available to purchase all the bike racks identified, then the Committee will
have to prioritize the bike rack locations and purchase what they could with the available funds.
Bike Safety Material
F. Taormina updated the Committee that no progress has been made to the bike safety material since the last meeting. He stated that he received some additional information from Committee Member Will Peck, but the information has not been inserted in the pamphlet and the formatting of the pamphlet is not completed.
D. Pelletier suggested that the Committee spend the bulk of the fall and winter fine tuning the pamphlet so that it can be finalized and available for distribution in the Spring 2011.
D. Pelletier stated that the Priority Bike Route, the Bypass Road Bike Path Connection, and the new bike racks will all be installed/completed in the spring and there will likely be a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with the Mayor and other dignitaries at one or all of those events. The bike safety pamphlet will be a great piece of literature to disseminate at events like that. Additionally we can place it on the website and distribute to the Salem Public School System. Committee agreed.
Chairman Shuman asked if the Committee could financially support an individual to give bike safety lectures, with demo bikes, to each public school.
F. Taormina stated that the Committee doesn’t have a budget for that. The funds are only for maintenance of the Salem Bike Path. He stated that if there are any grant opportunities for such a thing, he would discuss with the director and apply for the grant, if permitted.
Peter Tracy Multi-Use Path/Bypass Rd Bike Path Connection Update
F. Taormina updated the Committee on Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) status on the construction of a bike path connection between two existing links: the Bypass Road Bike Path (end of Saunders Street) and the Peter Tracy Multi-Use Path (at Cross Street).
Priority Bike Route
D. Pelletier asked what the status of the priority bike route was.
F. Taormina told the Committee that the bid specs and plans have been revised to include the Committee’s comments. He then reviewed and solicited comments on the plans from the City Engineer and Police Traffic Lieutenant. Those comments were forwarded to our hired Engineers (FST Engineering). He explained that the bid specifications need to be reviewed by the Purchasing Department and that he needed to insert some CDBG Grant requirement information in the bid specs, so that the contractors bid on the project appropriately. He also explained that there is no rush to bid the project as construction will not start until spring 2011. He anticipates that the construction and bid documents should be finalized early this winter, the City will then bid the project sometime in late winter, and
construction would start in early spring.
Bike Path Gates Update
F. Taormina updated the Committee on the status of opening the bike gates and installed bollards at each entrance into the bike path to deter vehicular access. He stated that the bollards have been ordered, fabricated, and delivered to the contractor. The contractor (Ferrari Landscaping) will be installing the bollards and mounting the bike gates in an open position in the next week or two. He stated that once the work is completed, the landscaping beds around the entrances will be re-planted and mulched so that people enter through the gates instead or around them.
Chairman Shuman asks if there are any further questions or comments. There being none, he asked for a motion to adjourn. D. Pelletier makes that motion, seconded by E. DeMaio and approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Planner/Harbor Coordinator
BPC 10-13-2010
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