Salem Bike Path Committee
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
A regularly scheduled meeting of the Salem Bike Path Committee was held on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room 313 at City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street.
Members Present: Chairman Dan Shuman, Ernest DeMaio, Jeff Bellin, Brad Sandler, and
Bruce Mabbott. Also Present: Frank Taormina, Planner/Harbor Coordinator
Members Absent: David Hallowes, David Bowie, Dan Cooper, and Will Peck
Public in Attendance: Steve Tgettis (Salem Resident)
Chairman Shuman called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM. He acknowledged those members absent and present for the record.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any comments or edits with respect to the February 13, 2013 Meeting Minutes. J. Bellin pointed out an edits on page 2. Chairman Shuman asked for a motion to approve as revised. Motion was made by J. Bellin, seconded by E. DeMaio, and approved unanimously.
Chairman Shuman welcomed those in attendance and asked if there were any other public comments at this time, there being none he moved onto the next agenda item.
- Border-to-Boston Bike Trail
Dave Read (Chairman of the Border-to-Boston Trail Coalition and sits on the Board of Trustees for the East Coast Greenway Alliance) introduced himself to the Committee and stated that he was a long time Salem Resident and enjoyed the Salem Bike Path with his family when it was first constructed. He now resides in Topsfield. He stated that the last time he was in Salem he was at the ceremony to officially recognize the Salem Bike Path as a part of the ECG.
D. Read explained that the East Coast Greenway (ECG) Coalition is an advocacy group that’s mission is to connect Maine to Florida with an of off-road bike paths. Utilizing an on-line map projected onto a screen he zoomed in on the New England portion of the ECG Route and walked the Committee through Maine and New Hampshire’s efforts beginning in Portland, Maine and heading south to the Massachusetts Border. Once in Massachusetts he detailed the Border-to-Boston Bike Trail, which is a 28-mile (partially completed) bike path linking eight communities (Salisbury, Newburyport, Newbury, Georgetown, Boxford, Topsfield, Wenham, and Danvers).
S. Tgettis (Salem Resident) asked what funds were used to pay for the Border-to-Boston Trail. D. Read stated that they secured funding from Mass Highway (now MassDOT), which was earmarked years ago in the State budget and required a 20% local match.
D. Read walked the Commission through the ECG’s temporary on-road connection from the end of the Border-to-Boston Trail in Danvers through Peabody to Salem. Specifically, the route in Peabody extends down the Independence Rail Trail and ends at the North Shore Mall (near the Lahey Clinic), then utilize North Shore Road which passes under Rte 128, through a residential neighborhood and spills out onto Rte 114 at Andover Street and follows Rte 114 east into Salem via Pulaski Street, Gardner Parkway, Margin Street, and North Street, as there is no off-road route identified at this time.
B. Mabbott explained that there are two unused railroad right-of-ways that extend to the North Shore Mall which could be utilized to extend the Independence Rail Trail in Peabody into downtown Peabody or potentially into Salem. As he understands it, the railroad company is not interested in relinquishing its rights in one or both of those rail lines, and he believes that one may still be used for freight deliveries by the Eastman Gelatin~Company in Peabody.
D. Read stated the he was worked with the City of Peabody on an extension of the Independence Rail Trail to Salem and agreed that at this point in time neither railroad right-of-way is available to extend the bike path into Peabody and Salem. So until that becomes available the only way to link Salem to the Border-to-Boston Bike Trail network is via an on-road route.
E. DeMaio stated that the on-road road via Rte 114 through Peabody is extremely difficult to navigate in a car let along on a bike. He suggested that the ECG Route use a safer on-road route into Salem, and suggested utilizing Route 35 via Margin Street, Water Street, Liberty Street, and High Street in Danvers and connecting to the Border-to-Boston Trail further north in Danvers. Discussion ensued.
D. Read explained that that route would completely bypass Peabody. The ECG is trying to connect all the off-road routes together. The Committee understood, but asked if the Route 35 option be considered.
S. Tgettis (Salem Resident) asked if the ECG could reach out to MassDOT to see if they could secure some funding to create an off-road link from Peabody to Salem.
D. Read stated that the ECG is an advocacy group and doesn’t have as much clout as a municipality. He stated that each municipality really needs to take the lead on securing funding and the right-of-ways needed to construct the off-road trails, but that they are willing to help in whatever capacity they could.
D. Read asked the Commission if they could update him on the status of the Salem Bike Path Extension project to downtown Salem.
F. Taormina gave D. Read a detailed update on the status of the project. He informed him that the City is working with a property owner, who is the only potential customer of the unused right-of-way the City of Salem is trying to obtain a long-term lease from the MBTA to extend the Salem Bike Path through. He explained that in order for the City to proceed and execute the long-term lease with the MBTA, the City must have the freight rights in the right-of-way abandoned. In order to do that, the only potential customer must agree to waive his freight rights in the right-of-way. The City has been negotiating with the property owner, his attorney, and the MBTA/TRA on the matter for years. Part of the negotiations included the City redesigned the bike path to allow the property owner the ability
to utilize any surplus property in the right-of-way for his future needs. He agreed that if that was made available to him then we would write a letter to the freight company waiving his immediate and future freight rights in the rail siding. Once that is done, then the City would formally request to have the freight rights abandoned. The City and MBTA/TRA made those concessions however the property owner has not held up his end of the bargain as of yet. He informed the Committee and D. Read that the City and MBTA/TRA have recently followed up with the
property owner and his attorney, as they have not heard back from him in quite some time. The City is hopeful that they will hear back from the property owner soon and finally obtain what they need to move the project forward.
D. Read thanked the Committee for the update and the Committee thanked him for this time in updating the Committee on the East Coast Greenway and Border-to-Boston Trail’s efforts.
Discussion regarding Bike Work Stands
Chairman Shuman opened the item and turned the floor over to F. Taormina.
F. Taormina stated that it has come to the City’s attention that the City’s Green Community Grant funds that were going to be used to purchase and install the bike work stands cannot be used for biking initiatives anymore. He stated that at this point in time it doesn’t make sense to continue the discussion. Once another funding source is identified then he recommended that the Committee resume the discussion on the matter. The Committee agreed.
Old/New Business
Vote to approve Salem Bike Safety Brochure
Chairman Shuman opened up the item and turned the floor over to F. Taormina.
F. Taormina shoed the Committee the revised safety brochure, and walked them through all the changes and edits that were made by Mass-in-Motion. The Committee pointed out a couple spelling errors on the backside of the brochure. F. Taormina made a note of them and assured the Committee that a final spell check will be done.
J. Bellin stated that he thought the title of the brochure as supposed to change from “Salem Bicycle Safety” to “Salem Bicycle Safely”. F. Taormina stated that the text around the cover image is what the committee agreed should be changed to reflect that, not the title. The Committee pointed out that the text around the front cover photo was missing.
F. Taormina made a note of that and showed the Committee the old version of the brochure and showed them how that text was change to “Tips for Bicycling Safely in Salem”. Discussion ensued.
E. DeMaio made a motion to keep the title and text and to approve the brochure as revised. Seconded by B. Mabbott and approved unanimously.
F. Taormina stated that once the edits are made he will have the brochure translated into Spanish and work with Mass-in-Motion to have them printed. Once and English and Spanish version of the brochure is printed he will let the Commission know, so that they can discuss where they want to distribute and disseminate the info.
Chairman Shuman asked if there was any more old/new business to discuss tonight.
E. DeMaio asked if F. Taormina could follow up with D. Read to see if the ECG would consider adding the Rte 35 route on the map, as it is a much safer and more direct route to the Border-to-Boston Trail system. F. Taormina agreed.
Chairman Shuman asked if there were any more old/new items, there being none, he asked for a motion to adjourn. B. Sandler makes that motion, seconded by J. Bellin and approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
Frank Taormina,
Planner/Harbor Coordinator
Minutes approved by the Salem Bike Path Committee at their May 15, 2013 Meeting
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