City of Lawrence
Lawrence – Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee
January 19, 2010 minutes
|
MEMBERS PRESENT: |
Eric Struckhoff-Chair, Jay Bialek, Neil Taylor, |
|
MEMBERS ABSENT: |
Becky McClure, Gary Calton |
|
STAFF PRESENT: |
Bart Rudolph, Todd Girdler |
|
PUBLIC PRESENT: |
Marilyn Hull |
The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 6:05 pm and Mr. Rudolph explained that since there are currently only five appointed members, a quorum is assured.
A motion to approve the meeting minutes from November 17, 2009 was made by Mr. Struckhoff and seconded by Mr. Bialek. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Discussion Item: BAC Bylaws and Expanded Membership:
Mr. Rudolph mentioned that The Board of County Commissioners and Lawrence City Commission have approved the bylaws expanding the BAC membership to include representatives from Baldwin City, Eudora, and Lecompton. Letters have been sent to each of the jurisdictions requesting that they appoint a representative within 4 months. Also, an official resolution that reflects the changes made in the bylaws and re-establishes the BAC will be sent for City Commission approval on January 26, 2010.
4. Discussion Item: LiveWell Lawrence:
Marilyn Hull, from the Douglas County Community Foundation, spoke to the Committee about LiveWell Lawrence. She mentioned that she has spent the past year working with a Steering Committee to develop a set of community strategies focused on making it easier for local residents to eat better and move more. One of their four goals is to design all streets with safe access for all users (i.e. walkers, bicyclists, wheeled-device users, transit riders and drivers). She also stated that the Douglas County Community Foundation will be offering $200,000 in grants to help advance LiveWell Lawrence’s agenda. She mentioned specifically that these grants would be awarded to support sustainable policy, systems and environmental changes that impact a large amount of people and that each grant would most likely not be more than $20,000.
Mr. Rudolph mentioned that he had been working with Ms. Hull over the past several months trying to identify how the coalition and the City could work together to improve cycling in Lawrence. He mentioned that the BAC had shown interest in developing a Complete Streets policy and that it seemed to be a perfect fit for the type of project LiveWell Lawrence is looking to fund. Mr. Rudolph suggested working with the National Complete Streets Coalition and apply for a grant to conduct a one-day Complete Streets workshop in Lawrence. He mentioned that key stakeholders, elected officials, and other interested groups could be invited. The workshop would include an overview of Complete Streets, policy development and implementation strategies. He also mentioned that KU’s Transportation Implementation Class will be working with the Planning Department to review best practices for the planning and implementation of Complete Streets policies from comparable cities. That work is expected to begin in January and end in May. He suggested that a Complete Streets workshop would be a nice transition between the student work and educating the decision makers and crafting a policy for Lawrence.
A motion to recommend that the City of Lawrence apply for a grant through the Douglas County Community Foundation to host a one-day Complete Streets workshop was made by Mr. Struckhoff, seconded by Mr. Bialek and passed unanimously.
5. Discussion Item: KU Wellness Fair:
Mr. Struckhoff encouraged BAC members to attend the KU Employee Wellness Fair on Wednesday, January 20th. The BAC discussed what information they would present. Mr. Rudolph reported that he did not have any printed maps for distribution, but could supply a large copy of the Bikeway System Map and Bicycle Rideability Map for display. Mr. Struckhoff and Mr. Bialek volunteered to staff the table in the morning and coordinate the delivery of “Park and Path” maps to hand out. Mr. Rudolph volunteered to staff the table in the afternoon.
6. Discussion/Action Item: Bicycle Rideability Map
Mr. Rudolph presented two draft copies of the Bicycle Rideability Map and asked the Committee’s preference on the two color schemes. The Committee unanimously chose the gray background over the yellow. He also asked if there were any other changes to the routes before the final draft is presented next month. Mr. Bialek suggested that 19th Street between Massachusetts Street and Louisiana Street be designated as a red route due to the bottleneck of traffic and lack of space for a bicyclist.
A motion to designate the portion of 19th Street between Massachusetts Street and Louisiana Street as a red route was made by Mr. Bialek, seconded by Mr. Taylor and passed unanimously.
Mr. Rudolph stated that the final draft would most likely be available for review next month.
7. Discussion Item: 2010 Work Plan:
Mr. Rudolph distributed a list of possible work plan ideas for 2010 and asked that the Committee take time to review the list and add items that they would like to accomplish in 2010. The Committee will finalize the list at the next meeting in February.
8. Other Business
Mr. Rudolph mentioned that the bylaws state that elections for Chair and Vice Chair should be held at the first regularly scheduled meeting of each year, but since members are still being selected to represent the expanded membership, elections will be held at the February meeting.
9. Adjournment of Meeting
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.