Pedestrian Subcommittee
Bicycle/Pedestrian Subcommittee
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Large Conference Room, City Hall Dover, DE Agenda
Welcome Approval of Agenda Approval of October Meeting Minutes Old Business Items: o Senator Bikeway o Pedestrian – Walk Friendly Community o 2016 Cycling Event Date Schedule Multi‐sport Event Bike to Work Day Ride of Silence o Bicycle Friendly Application New Business Adjournment
Bicycle Pedestrian Sub‐Committee Dover City Hall Large Conference Room Dover, DE October 6, 2015
***DRAFT**** Sub‐Committee Members Present: Jim Hutchison, Chair Chris Asay Kathy Doyle Pat Gallagher Jayce Lesniewski Dave Moses Andy Siegel
Others Present: Anthony Aglio Sarah Coakley Bill Cook Carolyn Courtney Kate Layton Dan Shelton Ann Marie Townshend
CALLED TO ORDER: Meeting opened at 5:03 p.m.
AGENDA The Chair opened the floor to accept the Agenda. With no changes the agenda was accepted as presented with no objections.
APPROVAL MEETING MINUTES The chair opened the floor to accept the meeting minutes. Mr. Aglio and Mrs. Townshend both noted they were at the September meeting. With no other changes, the minutes were accepted without objection. WELCOME OF NEW MEMBER Andy Siegel was welcomed as the newest member of the subcommittee. As well, we thanked our visitor Mr. Dan Shelton, superintendent of the Capital School District. CAPITAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERSHIP The chair gave a brief background on the Bicycle Pedestrian Subcommittee and the purpose. Introduced the Senator Bikeway and it’s intent to provide an East‐West pathway that would connect several Capital School District schools. Mr. Assay noted he met with Mr. Shelton a few weeks ago and outlined some ways we could form a partnership in relation to the Bike and Ped Plans. He noted the Senator Bikeway is our most important capital improvement we are planning to have done. Noting we would like to have the CSD formally involved and finding solutions to accomplish this goal.
Mr. Shelton asked where will the path end after it crossing over Rt.13 heading east? The answer noted was that it goes about 100 yards, as that area RT8 has a fairly wide shoulder and turns into a neighborhood. Anyone who lives in those areas can then easily access the pathway. We are hoping it will land in an area where people can easily access it. The chair noted as we move forward, having the CSD involved will be very valuable.
Mr. Moses noted his passion is education of motorist and cyclists. He would like to see the CSD try to incorporate bicycle training / safety training at an early age so that we have a much more educated cyclist from a young age. Mrs. Townshend noted this could be good information for walkers/pedestrians, too. Mr. Shelton was open to this discussion. He felt a smaller group of people could make this happen. A small group of those who want to come in to do the curriculum and a teachers such as PE teachers that are interested in participating in creating this curriculum. Mr. Moses felt this was exciting and noted three members of the committee have completed a League of American Cyclists 101 program and a some are looking forward to a 201 training to become an instructor. Mr. Shelton wants to be clear that this needs to be a palatable program. The program needs to be limited on time, for example a 45 minute curriculum would be welcomed more than that will be a harder sell. If the teacher has to
go to training this is also probably discouraging. This will need to be a low impact with having guest instructors come in to teach the information. Mr. Moses was encouraged to put a package together of how this could work and what the specific expectations will be, and then a meeting could be scheduled with appropriate CSD teaching staff to move this forward. Mr. Shelton repeated it is important to have the expectations spelled out before going forward.
Mrs. Coakley noted the Safe Routes to School Train the Trainer course in the Spring. She noted the PE Teachers from WHMS and Towne Point attended and seemed to get a lot out of it. Noting these could be good places to start with potential programming. OLD BUSINESS ITEMS Senator Bike Way Mr. Aglio gave a brief recap on how funding was expedited. This would be built in phases and keep it consist as it crosses the diverse areas of town. The railroad track issue has to be addressed and flushed out a little more. Engineered in FY16 and construction in FY17 is the plan. Mrs. Townshend noted finishing the sidewalk at the Dover High School should be priority and it will probably have a right‐of‐way problem. The first phase is to pick up where the path ends at the HAWK light, it might be the first constructed but we will work to get this gap filled. BIKE RACK CONTEST Mrs. Doyle noted nothing new to report. In discussion recapping the contest purpose, Mr. Shelton agreed to promote with the DHS Cad program, Mrs. Doyle will be sending the contest information onto his attention for distribution. PEDESTRIAN PLAN UPDATE Mrs. Doyle noted a new Walk Friendly Community opportunity from the League of American Cyclists. Ms. Courtney will set up an account on behalf of the City and the group for completing the application.
Mr. Lesniewski asked if there are time tables for the projects that were in the Pedestrian plan as he has noticed some improvements, but some areas that seemed like could get done? Brief discussion on various improvements and why we had some hold ups on certain areas. This will be an area to look as we move forward. Mrs. Townshend she will check with the City Manager and Public Works on the status of city owned areas that we can address with our concrete and streets programs. Mr. Aglio noted he can provide the pave and rehab list they have to see if there are overlapping areas that we can address. SPRING CYCLING EVENTS The chair noted based on our previous conversation, a criteria list was put together for the city to review before approving any event. Mr. Moses noted that the two event plan is a bit ambitious, he would like to see the du‐ athalon would be more inclusive to the multisport folks verses the time trail event only geared for cyclists. He wants to focus on a du‐athalon. He met with Ray Parker, currently he noted a one scoring point would be $800 and $2 per registrant for doing this event. This does not include ancillary costs such as awards, shirts, etc. Mr. Gallagher, noted he agreed a dual sport event is more likely to appeal to more verses a time trial. Mr. Moses will have the answers to the criteria list (attached) that was put together for moving this event forward for the spring of 2016. Once this information is gathered we can then really make a decision on this event. Mr. Moses also noted if we are only going to have finish line timing, he believes we may not need TriSports, but we could if we had too. The $800 fee would include promotion but not awards, shirts, etc. BICYCLE FRIENDLY APPLICATION Mr. Asay asked if members had completed their assignments or needed assistance. Some discussion on listing the State of Delaware bike coordinator as our bike coordinator, Mr. Aglio felt this could be stretch. Mr. Asay reminded members that when answering questions, we do have the state coordinators to assist. Discussion took place on the “local streets” policy as an example of a variable answer from the City verses the State. At this time, Mr. Siegel
had presented his portion of the application questions. No other information was brought forward at this time and no one asked for additional assistance. Members were encouraged to continue working on their assignments and send to Ms. Courtney as they are completed for inclusion in the final draft for review. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Aglio would like to see Bike To Work day on the next agenda for setting the date and also, check for over lap between the Bicycle app and the Walkable application.
Mr. Siegel noted some issues with a New Castle bike route. Mr. Aglio noted the Delaware Bicycle Coalition meets tomorrow night. He will look into the issue raised.
Mrs. Layton inquired about updated bike maps for the 3 counties? Mr. Aglio noted they are in process and he would ensure she received them accordingly. ADJOURNMENT With no further business the meeting adjourned at 6:11 PM without objection.
SPRING CYCLING EVENTS Specific date for each event Time of event How much will registration cost participants? For Duathlon – will registration fees and sponsorships cover the cost of Tri‐Sports? Be sure to include the costs of insurance riders for each event. Will you offer onsite registration? How many volunteers will be needed: On the course At transitioning segments (switching from bike to running, etc) At the check in site General helpers On the Road bike support Where will volunteers come from? Does the Traumatic Brain Injury folks still agree to support a spring event? Sponsorships Will you have various packages or one flat rate How will those be marketed Impact on City: Additional porta johns Additional trash pick up Paid Staff at event requirements Police escort on course Medical – will we need to have EMT/Paramedics onsite? Is there really someone on the subcommittee committed to these events and running them? Without changing the parameters?
18. What was your community’s biggest challenge to bicycling in the recent past? How was the issue addressed? (500 word limit) The biggest challenges to bicycling in the past few years was bicycle safety and education. The perception that it wasn’t safe to ride needed to be changed. It couldn’t be changed by simply telling the public that it was, in fact, safe to ride a bicycle to work, to school, or for recreation. The City had to engage the public by making visible changes to the roadways and providing safe opportunities to ride. In cooperation with the State of Delaware and Kent County, roadways were improved and marked to indicate established bike paths. On some of the more prominent streets in Dover, sharrows were used to indicate to the drivers and bicyclists that the bicyclist can occupy the entire lane. In other areas, bike paths were indicated by designating the shoulder of the road as a bike path. This demonstrated to the public that the City of Dover was actively providing safe routes throughout the City. By itself, that didn’t improve bicycling. Additionally, the City recently completed and published a comprehensive Bicycle Plan. It demonstrates to the community that bicycling and bicycle safety are priorities being taken very seriously. In conjunction to roadway improvements, the City of Dover had to demonstrate it was a safe place to ride. The City has sponsored a number of events, inviting the public to participate. For twenty‐nine years, the City has hosted the Amish Country Bike Tour in which approximately 2,500 cyclists from all ages depart the City and ride one of five different measured and marked distances before returning to the City. In recent years, the City has sponsored Ride to Work day, encouraging employees of the City, other businesses, and State and County employees to ride to work. In 2015, the City held its first Ride of Silence. Riding events in conjunction with visible improvements to the roadways has had a positive impact on the perception of safety, as demonstrated by the increase in bicyclists in Dover. 325 words 19. What specific improvements do you have planned for bicycling in the next 12 months? The number one goal to improving bicycling in the City, as outlined in the City’s Bicycle Plan, is the completion of the Senator Bikeway. It fulfills the need for a centrally placed East – West bike route through Dover which includes crossing some busy intersections. The central objective in making this plan was to answer the question, “Would a parent be comfortable allowing their 12 year old child to ride across these intersections?” With the central question in mind, the Senator Bikeway was laid out and presented to the State for approval. The bikeway is funded and it’s currently in the planning and engineering stages. In addition to being an East – West corridor for bicycling and walking, it connects the public middle schools and high school with the expectation of increasing the number of students who choose to ride a bicycle to and from school. Anticipating the increase in students riding bicycles to and from schools, the City has launched a Bike Rack Contest aimed at school aged children. Th 144 words
