HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-04 - BPAC Minutes
117 NW Lafayette Avenue, Bend, Oregon 97703 | P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708-6005
(541) 388-6575 bpac@deschutes .org www.deschutes.org/bpac
Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
MEETING MINUTES
DESCHUTES COUNTY BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Thursday, January 4, 12:00 to 1:30 pm
DeArmond Room, Deschutes Service Center, 1300 NW Wall Street, Bend
Members Present: Dave Thomson, Chris Cassard, Dave Roth, Neil Baunsgard, Sabrina Haggerty,
Wendy Holzman, Matt Muchna, Mark Smith, Jennifer Letz, Rachel Zakem.
Agency/Organization: Tanya Saltzman (Deschutes County), Chris Blake (City of Bend), Chris
Cheng (ODOT), Kim Curley (Commute Options).
Call to Order
Meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m.
Introductions
Attendees of the meeting introduced themselves and, if applicable, identified the organization
they represent.
Public Comment
None
Approval of Prior Minutes
The December 2023 minutes were approved.
Committee Business
Meeting schedule: will coordinate with Matt re: Redmond meeting in March and will follow up
re: timing/location for Sisters meeting in May. La Pine TBD.
BOCC yearly report: last year, this was in April. This year the report will be a little bit simpler so
might be easier to get together.
o Chris noted that in a previous year, the presentation included discussion about
goals, and found this very effective.
Page 2
Hybrid meetings: Bend MPO meetings are doing hybrid meetings at ODOT. Should BPAC
explore this?
Dave T. will work with Chris Cheng to try having next month’s meeting at ODOT and see how it
goes.
TSP Update – Dave T.
Dave Roth gave a brief update on the 12/20 pre-deliberation meeting. Staff will return on
1/24/24 to deliberate. Tanya explained the thinking behind the pre-deliberation concept and
explained the process going forward.
Permeable trail surfacing discussion – Dave T. for Dave G., Chris Cheng
ODOT has been building 10–12-foot multi-use trails, which are expensive to build and
maintain. Exploring the idea of permeable pavement or some type of hybrid (narrower width
asphalt, with additional area of gravel, for instance); Chris has a research request with ODOT to
look at what this could entail.
Big Chainring Award nominations - Neil
No new updates. Shooting for fall time to engage.
Setting new committee goals for 2024
Dave T. included some suggestions with the agenda submitted by Jennifer; open for general
discussion.
Preliminary ideas:
o Sisters-Bend-Redmond connections (discussions already in progress elsewhere)
o E-bikes: how/what to address where BPAC can actually have an impact on?
Commute Options, for example, has educational material on their website, and they
don’t have direct funding for this but it’s really important. Possible synergy with this?
Whether partnering, promotion, or other opportunities
o Commute Options E-bike safety course (online!)
o Topics that often arise in our meetings: community connections, e-bikes, separated
paths, roundabouts
o Jennifer noted BPAC’s potential to be a conduit for information, reaching out to
heads of various organizations to share info, rather than BPAC maintaining a list of
10,000 people. BPAC could potentially be this center of communication.
o Chris Cassard noted the potential helpfulness of us proactively reaching out to
groups to share with us their projects, initiatives, etc.
Page 3
o Dave T. noted the importance of being useful at the county level, rather than
individual schools, cities, etc.
o Chris Cheng noted that BPAC’s input to ODOT on projects is very helpful beyond
standard public outreach, since BPAC has ability to be more in-depth. Functions as a
sounding board.
o How much to actively engage other cities? City of Bend has had various people
participate over the years. Chris (City of Bend) noted that BPAC does a lot more than
we realize—for instance, Bend purchased an extra sweeper because of BPAC’s letter
of support.
o Rachel: what about encouraging Crook and Jefferson County to have their own
BPACs, rather than looking at the cities within Deschutes County? Dave noted that
perhaps we could invite representatives from those jurisdictions to our meetings.
o A more in-depth goals discussion might require a subcommittee, or utilize a larger
portion of next meeting for it (this could be challenging but Mark is up for the
challenge). We will address this further in the next meeting.
External Committee Reports
None
Other Updates
COIC/CET
Working on Bend South mobility hub assessment. ODOT is potentially able to lease one acre of
land (between Baker Rd. and Murphy Rd.). Looking to see what residents might think about
having such a facility there
Bikes on buses update: looking at some rear hitch options for Community Connectors to help
avoid people having to bring bikes on the bus while accommodating ADA needs.
South County
Experimenting with new pathway materials in Sunriver. Will keep everyone posted.
Bend
Considering a section of road on Olney from Wall Street to 2nd Street for buffered bike lanes
with green paint.
Redmond
Rec center in west Redmond is going through final design phase so BPAC Redmond is hoping
to weigh in on bike-ped issues
Working on bike map
Page 4
Starting goal setting next week
Deschutes County
Planning to hold deliberations on 1/24/24 before the Board regarding the TSP update.
ODOT
Innovative Mobility Program grant program will be opening soon—micro grants of under
$10,000 for underserved communities and also larger grants
o Exploring: working with Latino community association to get bikes for migrant workers;
working with COTA to improve signage for accessible bikes
Safe Routes to School grants opening and are expanding to include 2-mile radius and also high
schools.
Bend-Sisters-RDM planning is starting soon. Will get PM to talk to BPAC about the project
OBPAC: two openings: at large and an environmental organization member
Tumalo undercrossing looks good so far; looking at the rerouting of the Twin Bridges Scenic
Bikeway to incorporate that change
Commute Options
Safe Routes to School has ramped up. Walking School Bus is underway and always can use
volunteers.
May Walk and Roll Challenge will take place during the first two weeks of May.
Meeting Adjourned at 1:29 pm
Next Meeting
Thursday, February 1 – 12:00 to 1:30 pm – Location TBD