City of Lawrence

Lawrence – Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee

June 21, 2011 Minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Chris Burger, Gary Calton, Lisa Hallberg, Tom Jerome, Neil Taylor

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Gerard Arantowicz, Jay Bialek, Chad Foster, Rhonda Houser

STAFF PRESENT:

Todd Girdler, Jessica Mortinger

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Karrey Britt, Nick Benson

 

1.   Call Meeting to Order and Assurance of Quorum.

The meeting was called to order at 6:51 p.m. A quorum was present and introductions were made.

 

2.   Approval of the May 17, 2011 Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes from the March 17th meeting was moved by Lisa Hallberg seconded by Neil Taylor and passed unanimously.

 

  1. Discussion Item: Difficult Intersections Identified

Ms. Mortinger shared that Ms. Houser had provided a location to be added to the list and handed out a printed copy of the list of difficult intersections. Mrs. Hallberg shared the progress the subcommittee had made on three of the issues addressed at the previous meeting. The subcommittee has not had a chance to meet with Mr. Uddin again. Members were invited to join the subcommittee; Neil indicated he would like to participate. The subcommittee agreed to schedule a future meeting with City Engineer Shoeb Uddin.

 

  1. Discussion/Action Item: BAC Logo: Mrs. Hallberg presented the revised logo design. Ms. Mortinger indicated the BAC would be allowed to approve their own logo, because the BAC is a committee that serves the city and county purpose so therefore they can utilize a separate logo from the City’s “flame”.  The City of Lawrence style guide says that all city boards/commissions should use the Flame logo in their materials.  Ms. Hallberg shared the logo comments solicited from the Douglas County Public Information Officers.  The committee discussed the logo and suggested a few minor changes including, removing the arrow, separating the letters, adding holes to the ‘B’. Ms. Hallberg indicated she would make some of the changes and provide variations at the next meeting. The committee members agreed that continuing to work on the logo is important to the efforts of making the public more aware of the BAC.

 

  1. Discussion Item: T-2030 Chapter 8 - Bicycle System Plan Review: Ms. Mortinger shared a printed copy of the existing chapter 8 with BAC members. The MPO staff will begin the process of updating the Metropolitan Transportation Plan to a T-2040 version soon and would like a vision for the new Bicycle Chapter from the BAC. She asked them to review the chapter and start making notes about desired changes and additions. MPO staff will review the existing chapter 8 starting in September with the goal of having a completed draft by March. The deadline for T2040 is March 26, 2013. This update will also include a Bikeway Systems Map Expansion to the Douglas County boundary. Mr. Girdler indicated that the T-2030 MTP is the MPO Transportation Plan, and recently the city and county passed resolutions to accept it as their Transportation Plan as well. Mr. Burger asked what should be written in the plan.  Mr. Girdler indicated the plan should reflect the transportation needs and issues of the community to meet future demand. Mr. Jerome asked if staff thought there was a particular part of the existing chapter that should be reviewed. Mr. Girdler indicated that the last plan was created prior to the current staffs’ tenure. He also indicated that the current plan was completed in a rushed timeframe to unfreeze the state and federal funds that had been frozen when the prior plan lapsed. Therefore the whole chapter should be discussed to ensure it meets the current bicycle planning needs. Ms. Mortinger informed the BAC that the MTP will go through a public participation process and comments from that process will be incorporated into the document at the discretion and decision of the T-2040 committee, on which Mrs. Hallberg will represent the BAC. Ms. Mortinger asked BAC members to start taking notes and to expect to continue the discussion about Chapter 8.

 

  1. Discussion Item: Bike Month Survey Results: Ms. Mortinger shared a printed copy of the compiled survey result data. Ms. Hallberg indicated the data was collected in April and May by the BAC and MPO staff at Baldwin, Lawrence and Eudora events. People were receptive to answering questions about bicycling, were excited to learn about the BAC, and interested in the work being done to further bicycling support and infrastructure in the community. Many had no previous knowledge of the BAC. The comments collected will be discussed further at a future date, and will be important to indicate planning topics that should be included in the MTP. Ms. Mortinger indicated that the bicycle parking information was also shared with the Lawrence Central Rotary Club because of their efforts to install bicycle parking in Lawrence the information will be useful to them. Ms. Mortinger asked the BAC members to read over the comments and prepare for a discussion.

 

  1. Discussion Item: Tour of Lawrence: Mrs. Hallberg presented the opportunity to volunteer at the Tour of Lawrence, July 1-3. Volunteers can sign up for shifts at the event website.  http://www.touroflawrence.com/volunteers.html There are about 120 slots for volunteers to sign up. The event has plenty of opportunities to participate for kids, as a cyclist and a spectator.

 

  1. Other Business

Ms.  Mortinger reminded BAC members that the Lawrence Central Rotary Club’s Community Bicycle Ride will occur July 16.

 

  1. Public Comments

There were no public comments.

 

  1. Adjournment of Meeting

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Hallberg, seconded by Mr. Burger and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:22 PM.