Salem Bike Path Committee
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A regularly scheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room 314 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: Dan Shuman, Jamie Metsch, William Peck, David Hallowes, and Ernest DeMaio. Also present was Staff Planner Frank Taormina
Members Absent: Jeff Bellin, Christine Michelini, and David Pelletier.
Public in Attendance: Bradley Backer (Salem Resident)
Chairman Shuman called the meeting to order at 7:07 PM. He acknowledged those members absent and present for the record.
Chairman Shuman asked if the Committee had any comments or questions regarding February 9, 2011 Meeting Minutes. There being none, he asked for a motion to approve. J. Metsch made a motion to approve the February 9, 2011 Meeting Minutes, seconded by E.
DiMaio and approved unanimously.
Chairman Shuman welcomed Bradley Backer and asked him to introduce himself. Bradley stated that he is a Salem Resident and avid biker. He stated that he use to live in Dorchester, MA and he and his wife enjoyed and often times depended on the bike path there for various reasons. He stated that he has only lived in Salem for a short time and is present tonight to hear what kinds of bicycle trail are being planned or that currently exist in the City.
Essex Street Pedestrian Mall Pubic Meeting – Post Meeting Overview
F. Taormina stated that he did not attend the third redesign meeting and asked if any of the members did. None of the members in attendance attended the meeting either. F. Taormina stated that he believes that Committee Members J. Bellin and D. Pelletier attended but are not in attendance tonight.
F. Taormina explained to the Committee that he read the newspaper article, was debriefed by Colleagues that attended the meeting, and he also viewed the power point presentation from that night’s meeting. From what he gathered, he updated the committee on what transpired. He stated that the renderings shown and discussed at the meeting, none of them specifically showed a bike lane, however each rendering showed a dedicated vehicular travel lane which could be used for bicycles or perhaps incorporate a dedicated bike lane also.
J. Metsch understands that there is only one meeting left and that the City does not have the funding to construct whatever redesign option is determined. He asked if there is any way that the Committee could petition to have the pedestrian mall open to bicycles now. He added that perhaps after the last meeting, if the consultants can make a recommendation that bikes be permitted to traverse the pedestrian mall now or in whatever redesign option that is determined, it might help persuade the City Council to reconsider.
F. Taormina suggested that after the last meeting he will discuss with the Director and the City’s Consultants and see if that can be done.
J. Metsch reiterated that he would prefer not to have to wait 5-10 years until the pedestrian mall is redesigned before bikes are permitted to ride on the mall. The Committee agreed.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any other bike related questions or comments relative to the redesign of the pedestrian mall, there being none he closed the item.
Review Draft Bike Safety Material
D. Hallowes updated the Committee on the changes that were made to the draft. He asked if the Committee had any edits or comments on the draft.
W. Peck asked if additional info could be added such as ‘Under Massachusetts State Law children under 16 must wear helmets, and that word “imperative” be changed to “important”. He also shared with the Committee some bike safety language from the City of Cambridge.
E. DiMaio stated that the bike safety pamphlet should have fewer references to State law and more pictures with brief explanations to rules/laws. He prefaced that the pamphlet should be prepared with the audience in mind. The pamphlet is for children and parents, we don’t want it to sound and look like a legal document for the City. If it is prepared in that fashion our audience may not understand it or use it. Instead we want to capture our audience and tell them our message as fast and easy as possible. He suggested that perhaps the pamphlet could reference that more information please refer to the City’s website, and then post all the state biking laws there.
Discussion regarding the matter ensued amongst the Committee Members.
F. Taormina asked Salem Resident B. Backer his opinion on the matter.
B. Backer stated that he agrees with E. DiMaio that the pamphlet should be fun and easy to read, yet still have pertinent information.
J. Metsch stated that there are two different discussions being had content and layout. He likes the layout but the content needs to be refined.
E. DiMaio stated that as a parent with school aged children, he would like to see the images twice as large and the text refined and twice as small.
W. Peck stated that he though that the audience was also for parents who should understand the biking laws and rules of the road, so that they can teach their children the risk.
Chairman Shuman stated that he believes that both need to be included in the pamphlet but aggress that it should be more user friendly.
E. DiMaio stated that regarding the layout, he suggested that the cover image speak to Salem, instead of a generic bike logo or picture. F. Taormina agreed and gave some examples that could work.
The Committee Members discussed various photos that could work and agreed to take some photos that speak to Salem and discuss at the next meeting.
F. Taormina asked if the Committee wanted to keep the text at the end of the pamphlet which reads “in conjunction with the Salem Public School and Salem Police Dept”, if so them after the Committee is finished with its review, he would have to forward it to the School Department and Police Department for their review and approval.
W. Peck thinks that the safety pamphlet will hold more weight it we can get both of them on board, and perhaps get some funding as well from them for costs associated with making and distributing the bike safety pamphlets.
Discussion regarding whether or not one or both of the City Departments should be included in the review and approval of the pamphlet ensued.
J. Metsch made a motion to exclude the Public School Department and include the Salem Police Department (Traffic Division) in the review and approve of the pamphlet. Seconded by E. DiMaio and voted 3-2 in favor and the motion passed.
F. Taormina stated that he has a good rapport with Lt. Preczewski and Capt. Jodin of the Salem Police Department Traffic Division. As soon as the pamphlet is approved by the Committee he will work with Lt. Preczewski and Capt. Jodin to get the blessing from the Salem Police Dept.
W. Peck asked if the City Legal Department should review and approve it also, before it is disseminated. F. Taormina stated that that was a great idea and regardless of whether it is warranted or not, that the Committee should have it review and approved by the City Solicitor Beth Rennard as well.
W. Peck made a motion to have City Solicitor Beth Rennard review and approve the bike safety pamphlet before it is disseminated, seconded by D. Hallowed and approved unanimously.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any further questions regarding the draft bike safety pamphlet. There being none, he closed the item.
Review Draft MBTA Response Letter
F. Taormina gave a brief overview as the initial comments that they submitted to the MBTA regarding the 30% design plans for the Salem Commuter Rail Station Garage and Improvements. He explained that at the last meeting he showed the Committee the MBTA’s response to all the public comments received, and that the Committee wanted an opportunity to respond to those comments.
F. Taormina asked the Committee if they had any questions, comments, and edits on the draft response letter he prepared on behalf of the Committee.
E. DiMaio stated that there are some bike racks at the Commuter Rail Station and some additional ones were also recently installed. He suggested that the letter be revised to note that.
F. Taormina stated that he was unaware of that and asked E. DiMaio to forward that information to him so that he could make the necessary edits prior to mailing.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any further question, comments, or edits. There being none, he asked for a motion to have E. DiMaio’s edits made and the letter sent to the MBTA as revised, seconded by D. Hallowes and approved unanimously.
Other Old/New Business
J. Metsch asked about the status of the Bike Share Program and how the committee could help.
F. Taormina stated that that is still in the development stage and should be launching this summer.
Chairman Shuman also stated that the City of Boston is about to launch their Bike Share Program too. F. Taormina added that Boston’s bike Share Program includes 600 bikes and 60 bike stations, and Salem’s will obviously be a much smaller scale.
F. Taormina stated that there is nothing that the Committee can really do at this point, he stated that Paul Marquis the City’s Energy and Sustainability Manager is working hard to iron out all the details to try and get the program off the ground this summer.
J. Metsch also asked that perhaps at the next meeting we could discuss the idea of reaching out to our neighboring communities regarding their bike planning efforts to try and link our bike planning initiatives regionally.
F. Taormina stated that he is not sure whether other neighboring communities have a committee such as this or if they have a dedicated municipal person who deals with bike planning. He will look into it and agreed that this topic could be discussed further at future meetings.
Priority Route Bike Path
F. Taormina reported that the project is currently out to bid and bids are due on March 23rd. He briefly explained the three striping options epoxy, thermoplastic, and reflective paint. Discussion regarding the options and costs ensued. F. Taormina stated that he will report back to the Committee at the next meeting as to the prices that were received and which striping option we selected, based on price. He ended by saying that the only issue that needs to be work out before the work can be done is street sweeping. He will look into the City’s street sweeping schedule and make sure that the bike route is swept first before it is striped.
Chairman Shuman asked if there are any further questions or comments tonight. There being none, he asked for a motion to adjourn. D. Hallowes makes that motion, seconded by W. Peck and approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Planner/Harbor Coordinator
Minutes approved by the Salem Bike Path Committee at their May 11, 2011 Meeting
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