BIKE: Fwd: Minutes of UTC Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee on 06/03/04

[Michael Bluejay]

FYI, archived minutes are on BicycleAustin.info.

-MBJ-

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Tommy Eden" <tommy_eden>
> Date: June 21, 2004 2:43:09 PM CDT
> To: leanne.ehsai, pgoetz,  
> mdahmus, stephen.kreidler
> Cc: hello, tommy_eden
> Subject: Minutes of UTC Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee on 06/03/04
>
>
>
>                         Minutes for Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee of  
> Urban Transportation Commission
>
> Thu., June 3, 2004, at 6:30 p.m.
> One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Rd.
> 8th Floor Conference Room
>
> UTC members present:
> Tommy Eden, chair
> Mike Dahmus
>
> Others present:
> Preston Tyree
> Scott Johnson
>
> 1. CALL TO ORDER
> The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
>
> 2. PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE PEDESTRIAN PLAN WITH REGARD
> TO PEDESTRIAN RIGHT OF WAY AND SIDEWALK EASEMENTS
> Tommy Eden reported that he had contacted Mike Librik, who was  
> responsible
> for preparing this proposal.  Mike Librik had agreed that the issue  
> should be
> removed from the list of pending issues until he was ready with a  
> formal proposal.
>
> 3. PROPOSAL TO ADD A BICYCLE-RELATED MESSAGE TO
> THE MESSAGE SIGN OUTSIDE OF PALMER AUDITORIUM
> Scott Johnson reported that the person responsible for this issue was  
> Bob Sessa, who
> was not present.  It was unclear exactly what kind of message people  
> would like to see on
> the message sign at Palmer Auditorium; the sign currently reads,  
> "DRIVE CAREFULLY."
> It was also unclear just how many words could fit on the sign.  Mike  
> Dahmus suggested
> posting a request for suggestions about what message should be  
> displayed.  Tommy
> Eden agreed to include the issue again in the agenda for the next  
> subcommittee meeting.
>
> 4. DISCUSSION ABOUT BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN
> PROGRAM BUDGET GOALS AND STAFFING LEVELS
> Scott Johnson reported that he was being hired to lobby the City  
> Council to improve the
> budget for the Bicycle-Pedestrian Program.  He said that the City  
> Manager had set low
> goals for the current year's budget in terms of the number of linear  
> feet of new sidewalk
> to be constructed.  Even so, the goals were not being met.  He  
> suggested that the City
> of Austin should add an additional staff member to the  
> Bicycle-Pedestrian Program.
>
> Preston Tyree stated that the City of Austin currently has three staff  
> members
> who deal with pedestrian or bicycle issues, if the person responsible  
> for
> ADA issues and the person responsible for the Child Safety Program are
> counted along with the acting Bicycle-Pedestrian Program Coordinator.
> One more position in the Bicycle-Pedestrian Program is vacant.
>
> Scott Johnson suggested that the budget should include enough funding  
> to provide
> responses to requests on the Bicycle Service Line and funds for  
> bicycle and
> pedestrian needs, such as writing grants for new projects.  He  
> suggested that the
> budget should include salary for at least three Bicycle-Pedestrian  
> staff members.
>
> Preston Tyree reported that the Austin Cycling Association and four or
> five bike shops are pooling resources to hire Scott Johnson as a  
> lobbyist.
>
> Mike Dahmus suggested that the three staff members for the  
> Bicycle-Pedestrian
> Program should be (1) a long-range planner, who would be the Program
> Coordinator, (2) a short-range planner, and (3) an engineering  
> technician.
>
> Tommy Eden suggested that these positions should be included in a  
> formal proposal.
>
> Scott Johnson pointed out that funding was still available for bicycle  
> and
> pedestrian CIP projects.  He said he would look at the current budget,  
> and
> he agreed to prepare a formal proposal for the next subcommittee  
> meeting.
>
> 5.PROPOSALS FOR FACILITIES NEAR THE UNIVERSITY
> OF TEXAS CAMPUS (FROM PREVIOUS MEETING):
> a. BICYCLE LANES ON DEAN KEETON ST.
> The subcommittee agreed by consensus to recommend
> the following proposal for approval by the UTC:
>
> The Urban Transportation Commission recommends that the City of Austin
> establish bike lanes on Dean Keeton Street from Guadalupe Street to  
> Manor Road.
>
> b. BICYCLE LANES ON 21ST ST.
> Tommy Eden reported that he had discussed this issue with Alan Hughes,  
> who
> had checked an aerial photograph from 1997, but had not seen that  
> bicycle lanes
> had previously existed on this section of 21st Street.  Tommy Eden  
> believed that
> the segment had had bicycle lanes before 1997.  He had further  
> suggested that
> space should be sufficient to provide for a bicycle lane adjacent to a  
> bus queuing
> lane, similar to the one on 11th Street in front of the State Capitol.  
>  He agreed
> to check back again on this proposal and report back to the  
> subcommittee.
>
> c. SIGN FOR BICYCLISTS ON 24TH ST. AT GUADALUPE
> Tommy Eden reported that he had discussed this proposal with Alan  
> Hughes,
> who had agreed and had written a work order for a sign reading, "Right
> lane must turn right EXCEPT BICYCLES."  The sign should be posted soon.
>
> 6. DISCUSSION ABOUT SETTING PRIORITIES FOR NEW BICYCLE LANES
> Tommy Eden brought some old documents from the last century which  
> listed
> some of the criteria under consideration.  Mike Dahmus said that the  
> criteria in
> the documents were included in one of the files attached to his  
> spreadsheet,
> but that he still had some work to do before the spreadsheet would be  
> ready.
>
> 7. DISCUSSION ABOUT NEXT BICYCLE-PEDESTRIAN
> SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE AND AGENDA
> Mike Dahmus suggested that Colly Kreidler should be extended a special
> invitation to attend the next subcommittee meeting in mid-July in the  
> hope
> that he could provide more information regarding the following  
> projects:
>
> Big Stripe, which has recently reached the top of TxDOT's waiting list  
> for bidding
> Loop 360 Bridge sidewalks, especially with regard to the Central
> Texas Regional Mobility Authority's toll road proposal
> University of Texas issues discussed in item 5 above
>
> Tommy Eden agreed to request that Colly Kreidler bring the
> engineering drawings for the projects in the Big Stripe Project.
>
> The next meeting will be after the July 4 holiday, probably on July 15.
>
> The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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