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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Citizens Bicycle Advisory Committee - Meeting Date: 3/6/2006 CITY OF GLENDALE CITIZEN BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CBAC) Monday, March 6, 2006 Transportation Planning Conference Room Bank of America Building, Suite 315 5800 West Glenn Drive, Glendale,Arizona 6:30 PM MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Michael Wood called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. Also in attendance: Bill Wilkinson, Ed Cure, Charles Grosscup, Brian Kanitsch, Keith Cyrnek, Betsy Turner, Jeff Reid, Gail Hildebrandt and City staff—Steve Hancock, Sandy Adams, and Jamsheed Mehta. Members absent: Mariano Vargas Guests: Ed Cure, Bill Lazenby II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the February 6, 2006 meeting were approved. III. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Ed Cure asked if he could address the Committee on a later agenda item. Michael Wood said that he could. IV. INTRODUCTIONS Members and guests introduced themselves. V. CONTINUANCE OR WITHDRAWAL OF AGENDA ITEMS No agenda items required continuance or withdrawal VI. REPORTS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND ORGANIZATIONS Bill Wilkinson said that CTOC approved a proposed bridge at 57th Ave and Skunk Creek that would include bike lanes. He also said that the series of flagpoles and flags on the bridge that had been recommended by the Arts commission were determined to be inappropriate for the area and were deleted from the project design. Jeff Reid said that Valley Metro's "Valley Bike Month"had Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes March 6,2006 —Paget- their webpage up and going. He noted that the webpage included a link to Glendale's Family Bike Ride page. http://www.glendaleaz.com/transportation/GlendaleFamilyBikeRide.cfm VII. TRANSPORTATION AND BICYCLING IN GLENDALE Jamsheed Mehta introduced himself as the Transportation Director for the City of Glendale. He stressed that he was a planner not an engineer, thus the AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners). He told the Committee he was the Director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization in the Wichita, Kansas area before accepting the job in Glendale. Jamsheed said that he reported to three bosses in Wichita(City, County and MPO), none of who were particularly bicycle friendly. He said there was no local money for bicycle facilities so he sought funding for multi- use pathways from the Rails-to-Trails organization. He said that just when he was leaving Wichita they were beginning to build the first rail bank pathway project. Jamsheed said that there is currently $35 million dollars allocated for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the GO Transportation Program. He noted that there is no"sunset"on the 1/2 cent sales tax for transportation projects in Glendale. Jamsheed pointed out that the City is seeking $600,000 in the draft budget for an update of the Glendale Transportation Plan (subject to Council approval). He said that one element of this plan would be the updating of the Bicycle Plan of the City of Glendale that was done in 1990. He said there would be a revaluation of the goals and objectives as well as revisiting the "dots and lines" on the maps. Jamsheed suggested that part of the planning process would be to survey Glendale citizens on their bicycling and pedestrian needs. He said that one aspect of a survey might be asking people about bike lanes; do they want them on arterial streets, are they perceived to be dangerous or too costly. Jamsheed said that he was open to the idea of bike lanes on arterials if that was what citizens wanted. Jamsheed said that there would soon be reorganization within the Transportation Department and he hoped for greater inter-divisional input on bicycling issues. Gail Hildebrandt asked Jamsheed for timelines for the planning process. Jamsheed said that as soon as the Transportation Department got approval from Council for this budget item they would start seeking bids from consultants-he noted that the department would do the scope of work prior to approval-probably in July or August. He said the Council just got the Budget Book for the entire City, over 600 pages, and the Transportation Department was just one of those pages. Ed Cure said that Jamsheed had apparently been"pre- primed" about the bike lane issue and that the fact he was open-minded was real plus for cyclists advocating bike lanes on arterial streets. Bill Lazenby said that as President of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists, he and the Coalition look forward to helping with the plan in any they could. Ed Cure said that as a planner, Jamsheed was probably aware that connectivity was an issue with any transportation system. He said that Glendale had a big problem with connectivity of bikeways. Jamsheed asked if other Valley cities had bike lanes on arterials. Ed Cure said that most other cities had bike lanes on arterials, saying Gilbert had bike lanes on all of its arterial streets. Bill Lazenby said that traffic speeds shouldn't be an issue regarding bike lanes on arterial streets. Betsy Turner suggested that Glendale might get a L.A.B. designation as a"Bicycle Friendly City" if it had bike lanes on some arterial streets. Ed Cure said that "we'll holler bike lanes a lot" but wide-outside lanes were also a desirable option. Jamsheed said that he had a conversation about the widening of the Glendale Ave. bridge over New River but wondered if there were bikeways on the rest of Glendale Ave. Betsy Turner said that bike lanes had been put on Glendale Ave. because the Base Commander at Luke AFB had asked for them. Ed Cure said c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2006\0306m.doc 04/29/11 Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes March 6,2006 —Page 3- that some portions of Glendale Ave. has bike lanes, some don't. Brian Kanitsch said that many cyclists would be happy with wide outside lanes on arterial streets. Bill Wilkinson said that some feasibility planning was to be done but that no money was budgeted for it. Ed Cure concurred that the CBAC had developed a list of projects to be studied by URS. (The members may have been referring to the Spot Improvement Study still underway by URS Corp.) Bill Lazenby mentioned that Scottsdale was also updating their city transportation plan. Gail Hildebrandt asked if CBAC members could submit input on the plan. Jamsheed said that something along the lines of a steering committee would probably be formed with representation from the CBAC. Gail said that she had some concerns about a survey since many people had a fear of bicycling because of the current lack of good bicycling facilities and they may not be supportive. Betsy Turner said that a great city must have transportation options that include facilities for biking and walking. Betsy noted that there was good support from City government for bicycling, citing the 40 projects in the GO Program. Bill Wilkinson added that the CBAC, through CTOC, added a number of projects that were not in the original GP package. Ed Cure said that another aspect the City should look into is the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program. Bill Lazenby said that ED was a certified bike safety instructor of the League of American Bicyclists. Bill also said that he had spoken to Mike sanders at ADOT and found out that ADOT has not yet hired a State level SR2S Coordinator. Sandy Adams said that she was on the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Safety Committee that was promoting SR2S programs. She said that Glendale was ahead of the game because it had a well-established SR2S program. She said the program started in 2003 by a Transportation Department engineer has gone from 20%of the schools in Glendale participating to 90% in the last two years. Sandy added that the City had also sponsored SR2S training by the Federal Highway Administration for schools in the Glendale area. She said the City also sponsors a Walk and Bike to School Day to promote SR2S. Ed Cure said that he would be willing to do presentations on behalf of the CBAC. VIII. GLENDALE FAMILY BIKE RIDE Steve Hancock handed out registration forms to various CBAC members for distribution to bike shops and City libraries. He said that all preparations for the ride were on target and displayed the updated maps for the long and short routes. Charles Grosscup said that he thought the CBAC in February had suggested a different direction of travel on the routes. Steve said that the routes being displayed reflected the changes, as he understood them. Steve noted that the routes had already been posted as downloads on the City's webpage's so it would not be prudent to make any further changes. Steve pointed out that the suggested change to move the second rest stop from Canyon Elementary School to Desert Rose Park would be too difficult because of the need to get a reservation and to provide portable toilets for the site. Steve asked that all members, if possible,plan on volunteering for the bike ride as support staff. He said that the Apollo high School ROTC students would man the first(and third)rest stop but that help would be needed at Sahauro ranch Park for registration, t-shirt distribution, and helmet sales. He said that the Glendale Police Bike Patrol would probably be able to provide ride security but there was a possibility that they would be disbanded before the ride. Bill Wilkinson asked Steve to contact the bike mechanic at a Wal-Mart store who had indicated his willingness to set up a booth for minor repairs at Sahuaro Ranch Park. Steve said he would do so. c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2006\0306m.doc 04/29/11 Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee Minutes March 6,2006 —Page 4— IX. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS No future agenda items were suggested. X. OTHER BUSINESS No other business was raised. XI. NEXT MEETING Michael Wood said the next regular meeting of the Glendale Citizen Bicycle Advisory Committee would be held on Monday, April 3, 2006, 6:30 p.m., Transportation Planning Conference Room, Bank of America Building, 5800 W. Glenn Dr., Suite 315. XII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Committee, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Michael Wood adjourned the meeting at 7:40 p.m. • c:\documents and settings\blimbach\desktop\minutes\2006\0306m.doc 04/29/11