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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-06-06 - BPAC Minutes Meeting Minutes DESCHUTES COUNTY BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, June 6, 2013 - Noon to 1:30pm ODOT, 63055 NW Hwy 97, Building M, Sparks Lake Room (Upstairs) Audio recording of this meeting is archived for review and/or transcription. The purpose of this document is to outline topics of discussion and actions by the Committee. Members Present: Mary Barron, Pam Hardy, Cheryl Howard, Matt Martin, Jim Stone Agency: City of Bend - Chris Carney, Robin Lewis, Rick Root; Bend MPO - Jovi Anderson; Commute Options - Jeff Monson; Deschutes County - Peter Russell; ODOT - Bill Hilton; City of Redmond - Mike Caccavano Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 12:05 p.m. Introductions Approval of Prior Minutes The minutes of May 2, 2013, were approved as amended. Bend Sidewalk Program, Robin Lewis, Rick Root, City of Bend The City is doing two complementary processes, one to retrofit sidewalk ramps to comply with a settlement as part of American with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit and a second longer program to address the city’s sidewalk system. In the 2013-15 biennium the City plans to improve 200 sidewalk ramps a year on City collectors and arterials. The city after consulting with accessibility committee will concentrate on NE 27th Street, NE 8th Street, SE Wilson Avenue, and NW Newport Avenue. For long term sidewalk construction, the city is working with a citizen committee to establish a prioritizing system for where sidewalks and bike facilities should be improved. The City is analyzing bike/ped crossings for multi-lane roads as a recent crash inventory revealed these facilities had many fatal and serious injury crashes involving cyclists and/or pedestrians. The City also has upcoming planning efforts for a Multi-Mixed Modal Area (MMA) plan on Third Street and a transportation and land use plan for the west side, each of which will have significant bike and ped aspects. Related to pedestrian issues, the City was awarded Silver status as a Walk Friendly Community. The June 19 City Council meeting the City will receive a plaque commemorating the award. Bend is one of 36 Walk Friendly communities in the nation. 2 Bike Safety Count Program, Jovi Anderson, Bend MPO City and volunteers conducted two-hour counts at 23 locations between May 7 and May 9. The total number of bikes was 1,130 while pedestrians numbered 893 pedestrians, and the count had 68 others, such as skateboarders. Parks and Rec counters registered 912 bikes and the counts from ODOT for state highways are still pending. The next bike and ped counts will be the first weeks in July and then again in September. More info is available at bendoregon.gov/bikepedcount. BPAC Business The Tri-County Bike Summit will be held Monday, June 17 from 9a-1p in Prineville, at Meadow Lakes Golf Course. The theme will be Health and Transportation and include a field trip both before and after the summit. The roundtable discussion is meant to provide Prineville and Crook County with lessons learned from other Central Oregon jurisdictions as they developed and implemented their bike/ped plans and/or policies. Updates City of Bend: None Commute Options: Jeff Monson, Executive Director of Commute Options, has been named to Oregon’s Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the first Central Oregon representative in decades. Commute Options has opened a bike share station with three bikes for 30 tenants in its building. The program has been uses for a variety of trips and Commute Options hopes to expand the bike sharing program to other downtown locations and St. Charles. Deschutes County: Recapped recent ODOT meeting regarding changes in how federal money for safety improvement will be distributed. MAP-21 will take a jurisdictionally blind view of local roads and state highway corridors with a significant number of fatal or severe injury crashes. Once identified, program will focus on low-cost, high-benefit projects. For urban areas, the emphasis will be on improved back plates for signals to improve their lowlight and nighttime visibility. For rural roads, the program will stress rumble strips, both for shoulders and centerline, as well as better signing with chevrons for curves. ODOT: Plans moving forward for La Pine’s first traffic signal, which will be at 97/1st-Reed. The agency will also add sidewalks to the west side of 97 south of the intersection and the south side of 1st Street for a total of about 2,500 feet. Travel Oregon has a put a video up on YouTube about OR 242. City of Redmond: Continuing to conduct a sidewalk inventory and look at bike routes. The city is concentrating on bike routes that will use parallel local streets instead of arterials and collectors as part of a semi-bike boulevard approach. City is pondering a Quick Response grant from the state’s Transportation Growth Management (TGM) program for a gateway treatment for US 97 at the south end of town. The idea would be to lower speeds while raising pedestrian and bike friendly aspects. City of Sisters: None 3 South County: USFS environmental document for the Lava Lands paved pathway is expected to be released in a few weeks. Others: Bend Bikes continues to work on promoting bikes in Bend. Latest idea is to use the terminology of ski slopes in terms of degree of difficulty, but apply it to bike routes within Bend. This would provide a quick and easy reference understandable to both locals and visitors. Kittleson and Associates (KAI) is working on Bike/Ped Safety Implementation Plan for the state. There will a be a workshop on June 25 regarding the plan’s methodology. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 1:20 p.m.