Alexandria BPAC Meeting – Monday, March 12, 2018

[Judd]

My notes from Alexandria BPAC. I’ll rely on Ken, Casey and Josephine to correct anything I scribbled down wrong.

Lieutenant May Update:
Apologized for missing last meeting as he was sick.
In January there were 2 crashes involving peds and bikes. A pedestrian was struck by a left turning car. A cyclist was struck while in a cross walk. Both drivers were cited.
In February there were two crashes both involving pedestrians being struck by a turning car. Both drivers were cited.

State crash data reporting tool treats cyclists as drivers of vehicles if riding the bike and pedestrians if walking their bike when struck.
Lt. May appreciates BPAC’s feedback to the state on improving crash data reporting.
Jim suggested looking for a some other standard for data reporting (perhaps League of American Bicyclists)

Lt. May also reported that the State views a bike lane like a shared use lane (meaning you can legally drive a car in a bike lane)
This could be changed by local ordinance
(Lots of BPAC discussion which I couldn’t keep up with writing down)

Complete Streets program update presented by Darren Buck and Christine Mayeur:
Darren – started on the job six weeks ago as the program coordinator. Formerly an oyster farmer, procurement, Federal Highway Administration and most recently with DDOT.
– Currently doing a deep review of the city’s paving plan to make sure all of the bike and street improvements are implemented during repaving. Alexandria’s paving plan is known 2-3 years out
– Focus of the program is working the various plans in place in Alexandria for Vision Zero, Safe Routes to Schools and Complete Streets
– Lots of opportunities in the FY19 paving plans (the FY runs from July through June)
– Safe Routes to Schools program is looking for the low hanging fruit to get implemented in the next few months

Christine Mayeur – also started 6 weeks ago
– Formerly a consultant for Inspire Green which consulted for DDOT projects
– Worked in upstate New York in food justice programs
– Got into planning after a bike crash
– Will focus on Vision Zero implementation
– Also responsible for bike parking (Alexandria has a grant from VDOT to install more bike parking)

Lots of Q&A with Darren and Christine
Q: It would be nice to have a website that cross references all of the infrastructure plans in ALX. It would be nice to find out why things DON’T happen during repaving.
A: Darren stated that they have something internally and would take it under advisement making it public.

Q: Seminary Road is on schedule for paving in 2019. There’s no sidewalk on the north side. Why?
A: There are some engineering challenges with hills and trees. Some of the land does not have a right of way easement.

Q: Alexandria Vision Zero website and dashboard – the plan is to roll out in the first year?
A: There is a dashboard and 2017 data is currently being compiled for loading into it.

Q: Is there a Vision Zero outreach plan?
A: Yes. There’s an outreach team that will focus on forming partnerships, running an education campaign and coordinating with other jurisdictions.

Q: What’s your opinion on pop up projects?
A: Darren likes the idea of them, but his experience in DC was that they require close to the same amount of effort as a traditional project. Christine is a fan of them.

Q: Are there any plans to do mini-circles for traffic calming?
A: There’s interest in doing something that demonstrates the effectiveness of these.

Q: What’s the plan for Bikeshare expansion in FY19?
A: Currently focused on resolving a procurement issue for the FY18 stations (11 of them!) Would like to more analysis after these are procured to determine locations for FY19 stations (will add 10 stations in FY19)

Q: Are there any plans to repave the trails?
A: Not focused on trail repaving at the moment.

Q: Any updates on the Holmes Run Bridge?
A: Bridge span should be going in very soon. Should be completed ~3 months after the bridge span is placed.

Q: Is there a template or checklist for community engagement on projects?
A: Working on creating one. Will try it out in FY19.

Bicycle Friendly Community Application
– Alexandria is currently silver
– A community survey is circulating

Bicycle Everywhere Month
– City organizing multiple events in May
– Targeting 4 community rides (volunteers are needed)
– Will include kickoff event, closing events, and Bike to Work Day

Earth Day
– There will be 5 bike trains to earth day
– Volunteers are needed to help lead these trains

Safe Routes to Schools
– Working on finishing up grant for next year
– 3 bike rodeos in the Spring (volunteers will be needed)

Bicycle Counts
– Lots of discussion as to whether BPAC should continue doing 4 counts per year
– Discussion about doing counts in areas that would best aid the city in measuring use before and after projects

Mt. Vernon Trail Meeting
– Well attended by Alexandrians
– Only two people from Arlington there
– NPS didn’t engage walking community well
– NPS interested in getting volunteer support for trails
– Brainstormed several activities such as trail cleanups, education events and a Parkway Bike Ride
– Some discussion of a Friends of the Mt. Vernon Trail
– NPS is supposed to come back with ideas to the group based on the meeting

[Author]

Posts