DRAFT MEETING NOTES

Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force

MEETING DATE: 7/10/02

MEETING LOCATION: CATS

CALL TO ORDER: 9:40am

ATTENDANCE:

(Task Force Members Present)

Ed Barsotti--League of Illinois Bicyclists (LIB)

Bruce Christensen--Lake County

Lee Cotton--Village of New Lenox

Josh Deth--Break the Gridlock

Greg Dreyer--Village of Orland Park

Deborah Fagan --DuPage County

Catherine Kannenberg--Metra

Barb Ladner--Pace

Alan Mamoser--Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC)

Randy Neufeld--Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (CBF)

Artemio Perez--Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)

Keith Privett--Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT)

Tom Rickert--Kane County DOT

Craig Williams--Edwards and Kelcey

(Others in Attendance)

Ryan Abbots--TY Lin

Christina Anderson--Village of Lemont

Eric Anderson--Edwards and Kelcey

William Bonnel--NIPC

Rae Casale--Edwards and Kelcey

Todd Fagen--Land Strategies, Inc.

Ann Fennessy--Hyde Park Conference

Andre Gaither--National Park Service

Danielle Gray--Northwest Municipal Conference

Jonathan Grossmans--CNT

Todd Hill--IDOT

Nick Jackson--CBF

Sharletha Johnson--IDOT-DPT

Dave Longo--Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Kim Mathias--South Suburban Mayors and Managers

Marty Mueller--Knight Infrastructure

Carl Mikyska--IDOT

Lisa Phillips--CDOT

Suzan Pinsof--Susan Anderson Pinsof and Associates

Eve Pytel--Transystems

Nancy Rodriguez--UNO

Maryann Romanelli--Hinsdale School Walking Program

Pat Schroeder--McHenry County Council of Mayors

Al Sturges--Folks on Spokes

Heather Tabbert--Kane County

Dan Thomas--Edwards and Kelcey

Randy Warren--CBF

Kristina Young--CTA

Brian Gebhardt--CATS

Tom Murtha--CATS

Tom Murtha--CATS

Joy Schaad--CATS

Tom Murtha--CATS

APPROVAL OF NOTES: Meeting notes from April 10, 2002 were approved unanimously without discussion.

PRESENTATIONS:

Chicagoland Bicycle Federation Commuter Challenge Award

Mr. Randy Warren presented CATS with the award for highest participation by a public agency with 25 – 99 employees. He noted that Kane County DOT came in a close second, while CNT had 50% participation in the non-profit category.

Route 47/Kishwaukee River Corridor Planning Project

Mr. Todd Fagen of Land Strategies, Inc. summarized the corridor planning project for the Route 47 area. He focused on whether specific community design ideas will generate more non-motorized trips.

One audience member asked if Mr. Fagen had a cross-section of a road with slip ramps, which he had mentioned as a possible way of moving pedestrian traffic across or under high auto traffic roads. Mr. Fagen responded that he did not have that cross-section, but the design is done well in and around North Avenue and Lake Shore Drive.

Ms. Eve Pytel asked if trips were isolated or linked. Mr. Fagen responded that they applied a flat average rate of trips to come up with their number, instead of counting isolated or linked trips.

Mr. Tom Murtha said that the questions raised by this presentation were similar to issues discussed by the task force before. She challenged the task force to discuss whether reorganization of growth can lead to mode shift, and how can that mode shift be measured.

Ms. Suzan Pinsof replied that there is evidence that "village center"-type construction in the suburbs is successful because people want to buy homes there. She added that it is much harder to measure any effect on overall tripmaking. She raised the possibility that SRAs are barriers that inherently create more trips. She would like to see a model that shows how many more trips are created by an SRA, instead of attempting to show an increase in non-motorized trips based on development. She stated that a useful strategy would be to gather communities affected by SRA construction and work to impact the design (in terms of pedestrian crossings) from the beginning.

Mr. Tom Rickert ended the discussion because of time constraints, but invited Mr. Fagen to stay for the rest of the meeting and invited people to talk with him later.

Soles and Spokes Events

Melissa Smiley reported on recent Soles and Spokes workshops and the current state of Soles and Spokes finances. She said the May 10 Safe Routes workshop had about 90 participants and several good speakers. She stated that June 20-21 Bike Lanes/Paths workshop by Michael Ronkin from the Oregon Department of Transportation attracted 120 participants. She added that details for producing and distributing a CD Rom from the workshop are still being worked out. Even with small losses from both workshops, the Soles and Spokes bank account balance is $3400.

Ms. Smiley noted that CATS donated photocopying, mailing, and staff time. She thanked the working group members, as well as Schaumburg for donating a workshop venue, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for covering a speaker plane ticket and hotel, and CDOT for donating AASHTO manuals.

Ms. Kilgore mentioned two future Soles and Spokes events: a Safe Routes to School meeting in early September to organize for Walk to School Day and the end of year Awards for Excellence event. She added that both of these events are in the early planning stages.

Mr. Ed Barsotti described a DNR workshop on September 20 at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove. He said the day-long workshop will be broken into three sessions: 1)Trail Planning 101 2)User Surveys/Wayfinding/Funding 3)Expert Q & A. He added that a lunch speaker from the National Park Service will discuss interpretive planning along linear corridors. He mentioned that registration forms can be found at bikelib.org/trailsworkshop.

Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)

Mr. Kermit Wies discussed the Shared Path 2030 process of goals, objectives and strategies. Mr. Tom Murtha described the proposal process. He asked the task force to clarify how it wants to work on the proposals and how it wants to identify holes/missing proposals. He described a handout that lists proposals which are specifically bike/ped related.

Mr. Bruce Christensen asked for clarification about what the task force would do with the proposals, if the highway and transit working groups are responsible for packaging the proposals into systems. Mr. Murtha replied that the task force can identify holes. He added that the public will still have a shot at the proposals in the public meetings. He concluded that the goal of the process is to involve people with knowledge in the process of sorting and grouping the proposals.

Mr. Christensen expressed concern that there were so few proposals from people at this meeting and wondered if the process had progressed too far without the full participation of the bicycle and pedestrian task force. Mr. Murtha stated that everyone has had the chance to submit proposals.

Mr. Christensen asked about the consultant hired for the Regional Bike/Ped Plan. Mr. Murtha replied that Shared Path 2030 is completely separate from the Regional Bike/Ped Plan.

Mr. Christensen asked if it is too late to submit more proposals. Mr. Wies responded that it is not too late. He added that the task force could decide to discuss how they would like the working group to address the proposals.

Mr. Randy Neufeld said that the Regional Bike/Ped Plan is about broader strategies, but these strategies also need to be in the 2030 plan. He requested help with a definition of how bike/ped projects can be regionally significant. Mr. Wies responded that staff could bring a list of strategies for this purpose. Mr. Neufeld agreed. Mr. Murtha suggested the possibility of scheduling another task force meeting to discuss this topic. Mr. Neufeld clarified that the staff list would lead the task force to management strategies for bicycle and pedestrian parts of the 2030 RTP.

Mr. Rickert mentioned that he wants to understand the timeline of the Shared Path 2030 process relative to the next scheduled Bicycle and Pedestrian task force meeting in October. Mr. Wies answered that the October 23 meeting would be soon enough. Mr. Rickert stated his concern about the lack of proposals from task force members and asked if there was time to submit more proposals.

Mr. Wies responded that the lack of specific projects is not necessarily a fatal flaw. He added that if the idea behind the project is represented by another proposal, the idea can make it through the process.

Mr. Josh Deth mentioned that he would appreciate a survey or assessment of the collapsed proposals in order to know what is in each system. He also questioned the scope of management strategies, including a proposal to eliminate "home-rule" control of land in Illinois. Mr. Wies responded that there are limits on what the RTP is empowered to do.

Ms. Deborah Fagan asked which working group will consider bicycle and pedestrian proposals. Mr. Murtha responded that the highway group would handle most of them. Mr. Wies added that they are attempting to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian elements into the entire plan, instead of isolating them in one chapter.

Ms. Fagan stated a concern that the "nitty gritty" discussion on bicycle and pedestrian proposals would happen elsewhere, resulting in watered-down proposals. Mr. Wies responded that the working groups are not able to make policies. He said that every recommendation they make, in addition to any recommendations from the task force, will ultimately be acted on by the RTP Committee.

Mr. Rickert reiterated a feeling that the task force has not submitted proposals or taken ownership of the process as they should have. He encouraged task force members to take in the information and add to the process as they can. Mr. Murtha added that anyone can contact him with questions about proposals.

Illinois Cardiovascular Health Partnership Update

Mr. Murtha updated the task force on a list of objectives created for the state cardiovascular health plan. He acknowledged Mr. Barsotti and Mr. Dave Longo for their hard work and asked task force members to contact him with any questions. He stated that the goal of the process is to write a document that many groups can buy into and endorse.

New Business:

Ms. Kilgore mentioned the possibility of ending the tradition of scheduling task force meetings and Regional Bike/Ped Plan Steering Group meetings back-to-back. Mr. Rickert postponed the discussion until the steering group meeting.

An announcement was made about IDOT hiring an SIU consultant to do a trail study to determine how trails have lasted, including what makes the best trail and paving materials.

Mr. Craig Williams gave an update on the progress of the Regional Bike/Ped Plan. He said work is continuing on a survey (online and paper) to be distributed to public works directors. He added that public involvement strategies are being planned, GIS databases are being gathered, and they are in the process of developing a schedule, goals, and objectives.

Adjournment: 11: 35am

Next Meeting Date/Location: October 23, 2002/CATS

Notes Submitted By: MJS