RECORD
OF MEETING
BICYCLE
AND PEDESTRIAN ISSUES TASK FORCE
DATE/TIME/PLACE:
Wednesday, October 12, 1994, 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Colonie
Community Center
IN ATTENDANCE:
Brad Birge (CDRPC), Alicia Fernandez (Niagara
Mohawk/SUNY Albany), Emily H. Goodman (citizen member), Katrina Neugebauer (Troy Architectural Program), Bob Kirker (Town of Wilton Highway Committee), Don Odell
(Albany County Planning Department), Jeff Olson (NYSDOT), Don Robertson (NYSDOT
- Region 1), Bert Schou (CDTA), Steve Strichman (Schenectady 2000), Ivan Vamos
(Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council), Russell Ziemba
(Rensselaer County Environmental Action), Steve Allocco
(CDTC)
DISCUSSION SUMMARY
Note: Any handouts referenced in the summary are
attached for those who did not attend the meeting. The summary generally follows the order of the
agenda distributed at the outset of the meeting.
Task Force
Housekeeping: Several short items were reported on at the
start of the meeting. First, Bob Kirker of the Town of Wilton was introduced. Bob will be taking Zim
Smith's place on the Task Force. Next,
note was made of the National Highway Institute's Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning
course and the NYSDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Conference, both held recently in
Albany. CDTC attended both events;
materials from them are available for review at the CDTC offices.
Two upcoming events were
noted: a presentation by Peter Calthorpe at the State Museum on October 27 at 7:30 PM
(flyer attached), and an upcoming Mohawk-Hudson Wheelmen meeting on November 3
(7:30 PM, St. Michael's Church, Killean Park, Colonie) at which Jeff Olson, Don Robertson and Steve Allocco have been invited to speak.
Status Report -- Make
Your Community More Bicycle- and Pedestrian Friendly:
Work prior to the September meeting concentrated on clarifying the
"audience" for the information and preparing the outside blurb and
acknowledgments. Final cosmetic work,
including scanning in some photos for the cover, selecting paper stock for
duplication and producing a number of draft copies, should be completed shortly.
It was suggested that
copies of this flyer be made available at the Calthorpe
visit. This idea was investigated after
the meeting, and the final determination was that the document cannot be
publicly distributed prior to being approved by the Planning Committee. This is because the Task Force is an advisory
committee, not a policymaking body, and thus it is not in the position to
generate and distribute CDTC "public use" documents on its own. If the Calthorpe
visit was strictly a "New Visions" participants' workshop, it might
be possible to distribute the document in draft as "what we have to
date;" however, given the likelihood that the presentation will be
attended by a considerable number of people not involved with the New Visions
effort, this cannot be done. The next
meeting of the Planning Committee is on November 2; Brad and Steve were given
carte blanche by the Task Force to work to finish document preparation, and if
this can be completed in time for the pre-Committee meeting mailout
(October 24 or 25), it will be placed on that meeting's agenda for approval.
Regional Bicycle
Network: The results of applying the FHWA's suggested bicycle treatment standards to the
Regional Bicycle Network were displayed; it was observed that particularly when
"Group A" cyclist standards were applied, these treatments often
would not imply major projects -- wide right-side lanes, in most cases. Even "Group B/C" treatments are not
"unrealistic" -- basically, bike lanes in the urban areas and
shoulders in the rural areas. One
lingering question remains: as some have
put it, "Group A" cyclists will usually not be deterred by conditions
from using a given facility or route unless it is flat-out impassable; thus,
the Task Force needs to decide whether it would be more beneficial to design
for "Group B/C" cyclists, and if so, whether for all
facilities on the network or just some prioritized set (see "Priority
Treatment Network" section below).
Steve Strichman of Schenectady 2000 reported on an upcoming local
planning effort which may take advantage of the Task Force's regional network
development effort. A
soon-to-be-scheduled meeting of representatives of a number of Schenectady 2000
Task Forces, NYSDOT and CDTC will take up the question of better connections
between Vale Park and other uptown sites and the downtown and waterfront
areas. The Regional Bicycle Network may
serve as the starting point for development of a local bicycle/pedestrian
travel plan, after which the issue of possible Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP) and/or Enhancement Program projects to complete key connections
within the local network will be taken up.
Vision Statement:
Sample "vision statements" were distributed, to illustrate
ways in which a single sentence or two can summarize what a long-range plan for
enhancing bicycle and pedestrian travel opportunities looks to achieve. Without a vision statement to crystallize
this aim, there might be less-than-optimal use of the Bicycle and Pedestrian
Issues Task Force's other products, as other participants in the CDTC process
(e.g., other Task Forces, the Planning and Policy Committees) might not
understand what this group was trying to work towards in generating its
recommendations. Task Force members
should give some thought to what the vision might be, and pass any ideas along
to CDTC for inclusion in a list of possibilities to be mailed out prior to the
next meeting.
Priority Treatment
Network: The group was provided with a set of sample
bases for identifying a priority network.
As envisioned, this network would be a set of streets, along with
their shoulders and walkways as appropriate, which would be held to a
higher standard for both routine maintenance and periodic reconstruction than
the remainder of the region's roadway system (which as a whole should be better
maintained for bicycle and pedestrian travel than it is at present). In addition, a priority network could be the
focus of special efforts to heighten motorist awareness of cyclists, through the
use of "Share the Road" signs, buffer zones between motor vehicles
and bicycles, and other means. The
handout illustrated what the network would look like if developed from two
common approaches: based on the functional
classifications of roadways (first two plots) and by daily or rush hour traffic
volumes.
Task Force members took
a little time to review the plots, and the suggestion was raised that looking
at these evaluations alongside the Regional Bicycle Network might be the
best way to designate a set of priority facilities within the set of previously
identified "desirable routes."
CDTC staff will prepare evaluations and a couple of possible priority
systems using this approach for the next meeting.
During this discussion,
the concept of a priority network for pedestrian travel was also
raised. As envisioned, it would provide
important connections and crossings for pedestrians in three main areas: in and near the region's Urban Cultural
Parks; along and leading to transit routes; and in major shopping areas. (Staff note:
major educational and employment centers were not specifically
suggested during this discussion; given their prominence in the Task Force's
listing of areas which should be the beneficiaries of improved access and
destination treatments, perhaps they should be taken into consideration as well
in developing a priority network.)
Perhaps at the next meeting, some time should be taken to see if this
concept can be better fleshed out.
"Current
Events": Three recent developments were noted:
* NYSDOT's proposal to build a pedestrian (/bicycle?) bridge
over I-787 in downtown Albany;
* a public meeting
held by NYSDOT on the resurfacing of Route 20 between Routes 158 and 146 in
Guilderland; and
* the Albany Service Corps' being available for fieldwork
The two NYSDOT-related
items raised the thought that perhaps the Task Force should be notified early
in the process of those projects which might have potential bicycle/pedestrian
travel implications; Don Odell was nominated and approved by the group to write
a letter to NYSDOT requesting that this be done in the future. Also, the I-787 bridge proposal raised the
suggestion that someone be invited to the next Task Force meeting to give a
presentation on it; at this writing, it had just been confirmed that Dick
Carlson (Region 1's Planning and Program Manager) and a representative from
Region 1 Design will be making a presentation to the Urban Issues Task Force on
the proposal on October 20. Given space
and time constraints, the staff decision was to not put the word out to
the Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force on this meeting, but instead to send out a
summary of the presentation. However,
perhaps fittingly given the new status bestowed upon him by the rest of the
group, Don Odell was informed of the meeting and will be in attendance. It was also decided that given the current
status of this proposal, it would not be appropriate to ask NYSDOT to make a
second presentation at the next Bicycle/Pedestrian meeting; it would arguably
be more appropriate to request a presentation once a structure design has been
selected and project development has progressed to the issue of bicycle and
pedestrian accommodations at either end of the bridge and away from it.
The Service Corps
opportunity raised the idea of an inventory of a "triangle"
consisting of parts of Bike Route 5 and the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail. This is currently on the Corps' list of
planned projects. The schedule calls for
participants to get an "early look" at the Bike-Hike Trail during the
Fall, and then to get into the real work in the
Spring. In addition to inventory work,
trail maintenance is a big part of what the Corps will do; being an
Albany-based group, however, issues of liability may limit this maintenance
work to sections of the Trail within the City.
A
standard form will be developed for Service Corps participants to use in
conducting their inventories. For
on-road facilities such as Bike Route 5, some examples of what data might be
collected follow:
* shoulder width OR
outside lane width
* shoulder paved/unpaved?
* general condition of riding surface (good/fair/poor)
* general amount of debris -- glass, gravel, etc. -- on riding surface (none, a little or a lot)
* railroad crossings or other spot barriers?
* "disappearing
shoulder" (e.g., shoulder ends at bridge)?
* adjacent parking? (yes/no)
* road's speed limit
* sharp curves/limited sight distance?
* adequate signage or other navigational aids?
A number
of other items are possible; it will be necessary to limit the form to a few
key elements necessary to make a determination on the quality of a route or
trail segment. This is necessary not
only to make it easy to learn how to make judgments out in the field, but to
keep the data collection process moving, as the evaluations might break a
facility down into segments as short as 1/4 or 1/2 mile each, and if there were
20 questions to answer on each segment, it could take quite a bit of time to
get a complete inventory. As the form is
developed, it will be sent out to Task Force members for review and comment.
Pilot Projects from Transportation
Improvement Program: Work continues; the goal is to
have a summary together for the November meeting, with the hope of getting
started with discussions of "what to ask for." Beyond add-ons to existing TIP projects, the
idea was raised that a few possible separate bicycle/pedestrian initiatives
could be set forth for consideration as well.
These initiatives could emulate successful programs in other parts of
the country, such as Seattle's Bike Spot Improvement Program, under
which the city budgets $100,000 each year for repairs to potholes, damaged
streetlights and other problems reported to the city by cyclists. A "set-aside" program of this sort
could also be used for the initial installation of bicycle and/or
pedestrian accommodations, such as separate bike stop lines at intersections,
bicycle racks or lockers; "spot-paving" to provide short-distance
sidewalks or bikeways crossing barrier areas; or traffic calming measures. Task Force members may wish to give this idea
some thought in anticipation of developing a list of possible TIP proposals at
the November meeting.
Following the "TIP
projects" discussion, Alicia Fernandez made a short presentation of a
"Downtown to SUNY (to Crossgates)"
bicycle/pedestrian concept plan prepared for a planning course at
SUNY/Albany. The emphasis of the project
was to develop a connection between the campus and downtown which would provide
students with improved access to the rest of the city -- particularly to
downtown. The concept is similar to the
"downtown to SUNY" pilot project idea suggested in Task Force
discussions some time ago. The idea
raised following the presentation was that if the concept could be revisited by
a next group of students with the aim of better fleshing out the details
(although the concept as presented was pretty strong for something prepared in
only four weeks), it could have potential for implementation by the City, NYSDOT
and the State Office of General Services.
Possible Meetings
with Other Task Forces: The Infrastructure Task Force
is curious as to what Bicycle/Pedestrian is thinking with regard to priority
treatment facilities and what this "priority treatment" would be; as
this concept is further developed in the coming months, a meeting of
representatives of each Task Force may be in order, perhaps in either December
or January.
The group was reminded
that Urban Issues would like to set up a joint meeting in November,
particularly to address possible pedestrian treatments; Brad Birge, Emily Goodman and Don Odell expressed interest, and
they would be joined by Bert Schou, who sits on both
Task Forces. Again, anyone interested in
sitting in on this discussion should let CDTC know. "Where" and "when" should
be established soon.
ACTION ITEMS
* CDTC to:
* attend and
prepare summary of NYSDOT presentation to Urban Issues Task Force on I-787
Pedestrian Bridge proposals
* work with Brad Birge on "Make
Your Community..." cosmetic and text preparation for Planning Committee
review
* continue TIP
review for bicycle/pedestrian "add-ons"
* evaluate
Regional Bicycle Network using common "priority treatment" bases to
develop a couple of possible priority networks
* work on developing a standard form for Service Corps
participants to use in evaluations of trail and bike route conditions
* Next Task
Force meeting: Wednesday, November 30,
5:30 - 7:30 PM, Colonie Community Center, 1653
Central Avenue (across from Lake Electronics).
Room assignment to be announced in future mailing. Meeting agenda to include:
* vision statement development
* priority treatment network concepts
* possible TIP pilot projects update
* development of additional possible TIP projects (see
discussion on Page 3)