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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-10-19 Bicycle & Pedestrian_MIN BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION Thursday, October 19, 2000 Meeting Minutes MEMBERS PRESENT Joan Spear, Bruce Taylor, Carol Lee Rogers, Alexis Rewcastle, Keri Green, David Young, Beverly Morris, Council Liaison Carole Wheeldon, and Ashland Police Department Liaison Kip Thomas. STAFF PRESENT Maria Harris and Derek Severson. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.  MINUTES Spear noted the following correction to the eighth full paragraph on page 2: “Morris noted that one participant was Jerry Greenlee, a city building inspector, who did all of his inspections for the day on his bike.” Morris questioned the second full paragraph on page 2. Wheeldon suggested the following change to clarify her intent, “Wheeldon suggested that if grant money becomes available for RVTD for programs where staffing is an issue could be funded, the commission would be interested in hearing about it.” She briefly explained her intent for the sake of clarity as well. Rogers noted that Kip Thomas had not been in attendance at the last meeting, and asked that the minutes be corrected to reflect this. th Commissioners Morris/Green m/s to approve the minutes of September 28as amended. Voice vote: All AYES. Motion passed. PUBLIC FORUM City Councilor David Fine noted that he is supportive of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission and its mission, and noted that he commuted by bicycle for seven years when he lived in New Orleans. Fine recounted a recent traffic encounter he’d had with a cyclist, and suggested that this was illustrative of the tendency for adult cyclists to blatantly disregard traffic laws. Fine pointed out that he has rarely seen an adult cyclist come to a complete stop at a stop sign, and suggested that he is no longer certain that he wants to support street designs which encourage more cyclists on the street with cars until this commission demonstrates that educating adult cyclists is a high priority. Both Rogers and Spear agreed with Fine that cyclists disregarding traffic laws is a problem. Spear suggested that the problem is not limited to adult cyclists, and pointed out that in most cases motorists also fail to come to complete stops at stop signs. Green expressed her concern with focusing this problem on the commission. Young suggested that the matter could be discussed jointly with the Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) at the joint session in November to discuss budgeting, and noted that it might be appropriate to seek more funds to increase efforts to educate cyclists. Young expressed his appreciation to Councilor Fine for taking the time to come before the commission on this issue, and pointed out that the Commission had recently sponsored the city-wide Car Free Day event, which included booths promoting safety and safety equipment. Young noted this issue needs to be addressed through enforcement by the Ashland Police Department, through proper engineering by the Traffic Safety Commission, and through education by the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission. 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 1 of 6 Councilor Fine recognized that this comes down to a matter of policy, and agreed that additional funds might need to be budgeted. Fine emphasized that in its role as advisor to the City Council, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission needs to provide advice on how to mix bicycles and cars in the right-of-way, and asked that the Commission consider the near-universal disregard of traffic law by cyclists when forming its recommendations. Fine agreed with Young that an effort combining engineering, education and enforcement are the best means of addressing the problem. Young questioned Fine about what his encounter might mean relative to the Siskiyou Boulevard redesign, and asked if he would oppose elements combining bicycles and cars in the roadway until this issue is addressed. Fine responded that he would like the Commission to be mindful of this issue in making its Siskiyou Boulevard redesign recommendations. Green noted that she had made a presentation on Tuesday night for a program called “Street Smarts,” which dealt with the new driving laws and attempted to educate young drivers on sharing the road. Fine recognized that this approach of teaching drivers would be effective as well. Green also noted the work that Rogers does in educating cyclists as well. Fine noted that he would be interested in hearing about more of the Commission’s tremendous efforts and would support modest funding requests made to the council. Green expressed her concern that Fine would consider not supporting making Siskiyou Boulevard more bike friendly over one incident. Young recognized that Fine was merely considering the wisdom of mixing bikes and cars, given his recent experience, and Wheeldon noted that the Commission could show the efforts that are being made to educate cyclists as Fine had suggested. Young suggested that a public forum on the issue of safe cycling and sharing the road might be appropriate to raise awareness. Young noted that the Commission’s next meeting would be from th 5:00 to 7:00 on November 16, and would include a joint session with the TSC from 6:00 to 7:00. Wheeldon cited traffic calming author/speaker David Engwicht’s ideas about psychology and changing behavior. She discussed how cyclists may view themselves as marginalized or victimized by an auto-centric system and thus develop a kamikaze attitude in their cycling. Taylor questioned how to best reach the appropriate people – those who disregard the traffic laws. Young suggested that enforcement needs to be a key part of any strategy to address this issue, and emphasized that consequences are needed to raise people’s awareness. Morris suggested that a one-week event focusing on bicycle safety might be an effective means to raise awareness. Green suggested that the group look at goal setting to identify a desired direction in which to focus its efforts, and Young explained that goal setting had occurred before. Green suggested looking at the type of advocacy the Commission wishes to pursue, and asked that the better part of a meeting be devoted to determining a direction. Wheeldon clarified that the group does have goal setting materials, but that they were somewhat set aside to focus on the Car Free Day event. Wheeldon suggested that the beginning of the budget season is approaching, and stated that this would be a good time to revisit goal setting. Green explained that there is a need both for events and for systemic changes to habits and behaviors. Young concurred, and noted that a lot depends on the limited meeting times and limited resources which are available. Young also noted that there is a need to maintain the momentum created by the Car Free Day event. 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 2 of 6 CAR FREE DAY DATE ASSESSMENT- OUTLINE OF WORK/TIME REQUIRED FOR EVENT Young noted that he has a report from Ben Sawyer on the time he committed to Car Free Day. There was discussion of the fact that these outlines would be used in planning next year’s event, and it was agreed that everyone would submit their outlines on paper. Young confirmed that these would be kept on file for reference in the future. CAR FREE DAY DATE ASSESSMENT- SET DATE FOR 2001 Taylor noted his preference for conducting the event before the school year begins at SOU. Wheeldon suggested that holding the event one week later than it was held this year would let everyone be a little more settled into the school year. Young concurred that it was not necessarily beneficial to wait for SOU, and suggested that st September 21, 2001 would be a good date to consider. It was agreed that the Commission would move on with the agenda, and come back to this item after Rewcastle had explained her meeting with new School Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. BUDGET UPDATE Harris stated that there have been no changes since last month’s update. MONTHLY MEDIA PIECE Young noted that he has written a thank you letter for everyone’s help with Car Free Day and submitted it to the Tidings. Morris read her letter to the editor on the issue of parking at the library. Those present concurred with the letter as written. Green noted that she could do her “Street Smarts” presentation as a commentary piece for the paper, but stated that she would wait until after the election. Wheeldon noted that the issue of poor behavior on the part of cyclists would be a good one to address in a letter to the editor after further discussion at the next meeting. BOULEVARD CITIZEN DESIGN COMMITTEE UPDATE Young briefly discussed last week’s Design Committee meeting, which he attended along with Wheeldon, Harris, and Rogers. Young explained that they had visited the site both by van and on foot to get a sense of the area involved. He noted that the next meeting would be held at 4:00 th p.m. on October 25. Young noted that an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) expert team of consultants will be utilized to fast track the design process, with a charette to occur by the first weekend in December. Harris explained that the consultant will come up with three loose, conceptual options as a starting point to lead into the weekend charette. Harris also pointed out that OTAK has been hired as the leader for the consultant team and will be on hand at the next meeting. Rogers suggested that the Citizen Design Committee should also bicycle the stretch of Siskiyou that they are looking at to get an idea of bicycling issues as well. QUICK REPORT FROM KERI GREEN Green noted that she was a speaker at the “Street Smart” class discussing the new Oregon driving laws. She briefly explained some of the new driving laws as they apply to teenagers, and expressed her concern that these new, very strict laws could discourage carpooling. Ashland Police Department (APD) Liaison Kip Thomas noted examples of how enforcement would work, and Green explained that she had done a presentation as part of a panel 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 3 of 6 representing the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), and the APD, among others. She noted that her presentation was less lecture and more anecdotal, and that she had hoped to bring a new awareness of what it’s like to be a cyclist on the road to these new drivers. She recounted her recent experience cycling up the Green Springs to demonstrate the need to better educate drivers, and discussed the fact that hate and fear result from not being educated to properly share the road. She noted that she had used some of the statistics from the Planning Department’s Street Standards Handbook, and pointed out that one of the most positive responses was from a driver’s education trainer. Rogers also noted that she had spoken to a parent who had a very positive response to Green’s presentation. Wheeldon noted that being in the presence of their friends does change the behavioral dynamics for young drivers. It was explained that there was a good turnout for this presentation, and it was pointed out that the presentation was part of the new mandatory driver’s education class. REPORT FROM ALEXIS REWCASTLE ON MEETING WITH JULI DI CHIRO Rewcastle noted her recent meeting with new school superintendent Juli Di Chiro, and pointed out how excited Di Chiro was about the possibility for the school district to work with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission. She noted that Di Chiro was particularly interested in being involved with the mapping of safe bike routes to the schools. Rewcastle explained that Di Chiro had suggested that the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission attend PTO meetings to get teachers and parents involved with a monthly car free event. She pointed out that Di Chiro had suggested starting with the elementary schools. Rewcastle noted there was a meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Bellview School, and stated that she has a list of dates for other meetings. She noted that she has reserved a spot on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, to initiate a discussion of setting up a monthly car free event. It was suggested that these events could be coordinated with the First Friday Art Walks. Wheeldon suggested that the initial appearances before the PTO could be exploratory to gauge interest levels. Young recommended having something concrete in place first. Wheeldon indicated that it would be enough to make an appearance, gather information about parent interest, and then arrange to come back for further discussion. She emphasized that the Commission needs to determine receptivity to a monthly car free event within the community. Rewcastle emphasized that the commission would need to involve the schools in order to have a monthly event. Young expressed his concern that these meetings would not necessarily be representative of the overall sentiment among parents. Morris suggested that having a concrete idea in place would yield a clearer vision. Wheeldon explained that at this stage, the commission is merely looking for supporters in the schools to make a monthly event possible. She emphasized that the commission needs to build the tools for schools to use and then pass the event along to the schools. Young suggested that submitting information to the newsletters would reach a wider group, and stated his belief that addressing the PTO is setting one’s self up to fail. Rogers emphasized that the schools have already been contacted, and that they are all generally supportive of the idea. Rewcastle suggested that she feels it is worth going to at least some of these meetings, and asked who else would be willing to help. Both Morris and Green stated that they would help. It was noted that Briscoe School has a very active PTO. Green suggested that she would like to have some sort of package to take to the meetings to start a dialog. Green also suggested that there needs to be a task list, so that the commission can initiate the event without owning it. 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 4 of 6 Morris noted that Harris had provided her with a “Walk Your Child to School” booklet, and Harris stated that she could get more of these. Green suggested that a subcommittee be formed to work on this item. Wheeldon agreed with this suggestion, and stated that the subcommittee could create information to be used in the school newsletters and in the PTO presentations. Harris explained that there is an organization with materials already prepared that has done a great deal of work in the US and in Canada. Green suggested that the guiding vision for this subcommittee could be to have weekly Car Free Fridays. st Young confirmed that next year’s Car Free Day would be on September 21, and would be supplemented by monthly, community-supported events. Young stated that he would e-mail Matt Barnes at RVTD to make him aware of the date of this event. Rogers noted that she would be interested in serving on this subcommittee. Morris, Rewcastle, and Green also expressed their interest. PLANNING FOR JOINT MEETING WITH TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Young explained that this joint meeting had been suggested at last month’s Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) meeting. He pointed out that TSC Commissioner Thomas Heumann had expressed concern over the budget and had stated that he did not want TSC to be a committee that only reacts to anger over problems. Heumann had suggested that the Commission needs a budget to be proactive and to make improvements. Young explained that this lead to a discussion of getting a grant and approaching the council. Young stated that this would be a meeting to discuss mutual concerns, issues and funding, including both budgetary matters and seeking grants. Wheeldon emphasized that this would be an opportunity for the commissions to compare their goals. Green noted logic of working together to marry the focuses of both commissions efforts. Not isolated or marginalized. Young emphasized that the TSC is very receptive. Green suggested that there might be some merit to forming a single, merged committee with a focus on Transportation. She questioned whether a combined group would better address shared goals, or if it would only dilute the focus of each commission. Taylor expressed his concern with merging into one commission, as the bicycle and pedestrian focus would be lost. He suggested that a connection between the two existing commissions, without a merger, would be best. Young suggested a review of goals, and Wheeldon agreed that the first hour of the next meeting should be spent reviewing goals. Wheeldon noted that five members have been replaced since the goals were adopted. Green noted that there will also need to be a discussion of working with the schools, and of a strategic alliance with the TSC to address comprehensive safety issues. Wheeldon asked Harris to provide copies of the commission’s two-year goals. Green stated that she would contact the TSC at their meeting next week and ask them to bring their goals to the joint session. Harris pointed out that so far, the following items have been suggested for the first hour of the next meeting: planning for the Walk Your Child to School/Car Free Friday weekly events, a discussion of commission goals, preparations for the 6 o’clock meeting, and a discussion of bicycle travel as related to the Siskiyou Boulevard redesign. It was agreed that the last item could be put off until the December meeting, and Wheeldon suggested that this could be facilitated by members attending the design charette. 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 5 of 6 Young stated that he would like to hold a special meeting before the next meeting on November th 16 to discuss the role and place of bicycles in the commission’s future vision. After discussion, it th was agreed that there would be a meeting on November 9 at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers’ Jury Room. Rewcastle noted that she would be unable to attend. Rewcastle asked that her e-mail address (lexirewcastle@hotmail.com) be added to the membership roster. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING th November 9 - Discuss the role and place of bicycles in the commission’s future vision. th November 16 - Discussion of the bicycle safety and education issues raised by Councilor Fine. (Wheeldon requested that APD Liaison Kip Thomas provide statistics on the frequency with which cyclists are given citations for traffic offenses.) Planning for the Walk Your Child to School/Car Free Friday weekly events. Discussion of commission goals, and preparation for the 6 o’clock meeting. st December 21 - Discussion of bicycle travel as related to the Siskiyou Boulevard redesign project. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. NEXT MEETINGS: th Thursday, November 9, 2000 5:00 Jury Room th Thursday, November 16, 2000 5:00 Council Chambers 2000-1019_Bike Min Page 6 of 6