Burlington Walk-Bike Council

September 2023 WALK-BIKE UPDATE No BWBC Meeting in September Instead of a meeting in September please take a moment to read about all the walk bike improvements happening in and around Burlington! BWBC will meet in October as usual on the first Wednesday of the month - 10/4/23 at 5:30 PM. Previous BWBC agendas and meeting notes are posted here. POLICY INITIATIVES BWBC’s Proposed Pedestrian and Bicycle Ordinance Updates - After discussions about updating the City’s ordinances pertaining to walking and biking at meetings over the past several months, BWBC submitted proposed ordinance changes to City Council Transportation Energy and Utilities Committee (TEUC) for initial review and feedback but has not yet received a response. Among other ordinance changes BWBC would like to propose, but not included in the proposed updates, is the “Idaho Stop” policy to explicitly allow cyclists to yield at stop signs. DPW leadership supports this but City legal staff is reviewing the request to identify any legal red flags before we take a more official proposal forward publicly. Vision Zero Focus on Safety - Jak Tiano will represent BWBC for Vision Zero Planning, a PlanBTV WalkBike-recommended planning project, expected to kick off later this fall, with the main effort taking place through the winter and spring. Burlington will join Vision Zero cities around the world, taking a systems approach towards elimination of all traffic fatalities. BTV Neighborhood Code - In the late summer and through the fall this year, the City of Burlington Planning Department will seek public engagement on its BTV Neighborhood Code project, assessing the residential-only neighborhoods of Burlington and identifying the legal and zoning barriers that prevent “missing middle” housing from being built. To get involved, keep an eye out for BTV Neighborhood Code public engagement sessions, and be sure to attend and point out the connections between denser housing and active transportation infrastructure. See details and sign up for updates here. For walk/bike advocates, this collective effort to rethink our city’s neighborhoods for more housing is a great opportunity for us to call out the need for continued investment in walking and biking infrastructure. Building more housing closer to destinations where people work and visit means that walking and biking can become even more viable, as long as there is safe and convenient infrastructure. The more we can replace the bulk of daily car trips with walking and biking, the closer we get to our climate goals, the less space needs to be dedicated to car parking, and the more human-scale our city becomes. WALK BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE Projects In Progress Plattsburg Ave bike lanes - Bike lanes between North Ave. to Sunset Dr. are expected to be completed this fall. The section from Sunset Dr through the intersection with 127 and the bridge requires working with VTrans and will take longer to plan and implement. North Champlain St. Protected Bike Lanes - This project is getting some value engineering to bring the costs down from the stratosphere. DPW’s target is to put the project out to bid a second time with these changes in place in early winter (December-ish) to take advantage of potentially ‘hungrier’ contractors who may bid lower than those on the first round. Champlain Parkway - The first phase of construction is progressing steadily including the multi-use paths. Stay tuned with live updates on this website: Champlain Parkway. Flynn Avenue Advisory Lanes - When Flynn Ave between the railroad tracks and Oakledge was repaved, the contractor did not paint the lines correctly, resulting in a center line and bike lanes that are too narrow. The road is too narrow at the west end for standard bike lanes, so the design is for reinstallation of advisory bike lanes (with no center line). The contractor will be required to fix the incorrect lane markings but their response has been delayed due to their involvement in addressing flood damages around the state. Main St Great Streets project - Construction is expected to begin this fall and continue through fall 2026 or spring 2027. See Main Street Great Streets and GreatStreets_FAQ_v3.pdf . DPW will update us on the project at the BWBC meeting on October 4. Downtown Connections on St. Paul and Pine Streets - The streets immediately surrounding the new City Place construction, including the restored portions of St. Paul St. and Pine St. between Bank and Cherry, are currently under contract and will be rebuilt as the City Place project moves forward. In addition, the sections of Cherry St. and Bank St. west of Church St. are expected to be rebuilt, are already at 75% design and are in the permitting and funding phase. The sections east of Church St. are currently in conceptual design. Projects in the Design Stage Intervale Road Multi-Use Path - This state-funded project is in early design stages, with likely construction taking place in 2026. DPW displayed a poster summarizing the proposed design concept for the path at the recent Intervale Festival. Queen City Park Road Improvements - While the scoping study was completed a year ago, this September, the Board of Finance will hopefully give approval to hire consultants for the design phase of the project. An 18 month design period is anticipated. Bids for construction aren’t likely to be sought until spring of 2025 at the earliest. The project is funded, but additional needs may be uncovered in the design and permitting process. Bike/ped Bridge over I-89 - This project is partially funded and South Burlington is applying for a federal Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG). Currently developing construction documents. Construction may begin in 2024 or 2025. Scoping and Feasibility Studies Battery St. Scoping Study - Jonathon Weber, representing BWBC as an advisor for the Scoping Study reports that so far, there have been two advisory committee meetings and one public meeting. The project is still early in the process, and Jonathon expects to see and give feedback on draft alternatives at a second public meeting and third advisory committee meeting this fall. It seems like there is consensus that Battery St. north of Main St. has too many travel lanes for cars. The thornier issues are to the south of Main St., where parking removal is likely to be necessary in order to have continuous and separated bike infrastructure. Burlington-Winooski Bridge Replacement Project - Jason Stuffle is representing BWBC in this planning effort, kicking off this fall and expected to last approximately 3 to 4 years. VTrans will have a booth for this project at the Farmers Market on Saturday. Sept 2, and the first public meeting on Tuesday, September 19, 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the O'Brien Community Center in Winooski. South Burlington Walk-Bike Bridge Connections - There is currently a multi-connection point feasibility study underway led by Toole, City of South Burlington and CCRPC, looking at connections to the bike-ped bridge that is currently being planned for construction. See discussion about the broader connections between the proposed bridge and Burlington’s Main Street that took place at the 8/2 BWBC meeting.