City of Lawrence

Lawrence – Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee

April 16, 2013 Notes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Chad Foster, Lisa Hallberg, Justin Eddings, Jay Bialek

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Josh Ediger, Chris Rogge, David Hamby, Rhonda Houser, Chris Burger

STAFF PRESENT:

Jessica Mortinger, Todd Girdler,

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Gary Scott (Eudora Parks & Recreation Director), Barack Matite, John Paden

1.           Call Meeting to Order and Assurance of Quorum: A quorum was not present. The meeting began at 5:03 PM.

 

2.           Approval of the March 19, 2013 Meeting Minutes:  Approval of the Minutes was deferred until May.

 

3.           Discussion/Action Item: 700 & 800 Block of Rhode Island

Ms. Mortinger informed members present that the Lawrence City Commission is discussing the possibility of allowing parking along the west side of Rhode Island between 7th St and 9th St; if they do, it will require that Rhode Island be designated as a one-way street again.

 

The Mayor brought it up a couple weeks ago as a way to ease parking pressures on the east side of downtown. It arose from the discussion of moving the Tuesday Farmers Market from Lot 10 to Lot 8, and people with concerns that parking is already tighter than normal on that side of downtown since the library opened up in the old Borders Building asked if something could be done to provide more parking. The City Commission has asked staff to look at the possibility of adding parking to the west side of the 700 and 800 blocks of Rhode Island.

 

The minutes from the previous BAC discussion (relating to 7th & Rhode Island) indicate: The BAC “recommended to forward the issue to the Traffic Safety Commission to determine the best possible design for turning this block back into two-way operation and to determine the next course of action.” 

 

Jonathan Douglass, City Clerk/Assistant to the City Manager City Manager’s Office is preparing a report and would love to receive comments from BAC about your opinion on this impact to bicycle travels. Lisa Hallberg indicated she would write and provide a comment.

 

4.           Discussion Item: Bike Month Outreach

Ms. Mortinger noted that staff would be distributing proclamation draft to all the local governments to use. Staff will also prepare and mail out Bike Month Flyers to major employers in Lawrence and downtown Lawrence businesses. The BAC has a table for Earth Day this Saturday, April 20th, starting at 11am until 4pm. Ms. Hallberg has graciously volunteered to staff the table, now she just needs other BAC members to show up at talk about BAC, hand out Rideability Maps, talk about the upcoming Multimodal Studies (there is an information sheet) and a sign interested people up to receive information in the next month about updating our Bike Plan (and expanding it countywide) which is one part of the multimodal studies. Please contact Lisa if you can make it out to help her share the BAC message. Even if you can come for an hour, your help would be much appreciated. This year members won’t be surveying participants since we will begin the public involvement for the Countywide Bike Plan in the next month and we don’t want to confuse people with too many input tools.

 

5.           Discussion Item: Eudora Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Mr. Gary Scott presented a short discussion about the locally planned bicycle infrastructure and amenities included in the Eudora Parks and Recreation Master Plan approved in January 2012. Mr. Girdler participated in the process. The plan can be found online at: http://www.cityofeudoraks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/221. The plan prioritized projects during the public involvement process to include all parks in the community. Since the plan’s approval, Eudora has added disc golf, planted trees, and developed a new park. Mr. Foster asked if any bike route was planned into Johnson County. MPO staff indicated this was a city plan and the regional plan (ongoing now) should include those linkages. Ms. Mortinger said that this plan is a good local starting plan for the ongoing regional bicycle system planning work currently underway. Mr. Foster indicated that this would be a good example for Baldwin City to use to create their own local plan as well. Mr. Foster also asked what else the BAC could do to support the planning efforts. Mr. Girdler indicated that their advocacy locally and regionally would help support ongoing planning and implementation for all bicycle plans. Ms. Mortinger also added that the BAC can continue to support Bicycle & Pedestrian Counts in the region.

 

6.           Other Business/ Updates

Multimodal Studies/Bike Plan- The steering committees had their first meeting with the consultant team. The first open house is being planned for June 5th, and more details will be out soon. The online mapping tool is in the final stages of development for public input.

 

T2040 Approval – Transportation 2040 was approved on March 21st, 2013. The MPO staff would like to thank the BAC for all their help in developing the Bicycle & Pedestrian Chapter of that plan.

 

7.           Public Comments: There was no public comment.

 

Adjournment of Meeting: The meeting ended at 5:55 PM. Next Meeting: May 21, 2013 or another date set by the BAC held in Lawrence, Kansas.