Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Thursday, June 20, 2024 7:00 P.M. Meeting Minutes Hybrid Meeting Held at College Park City Hall and Via Teleconferencing Through Zoom Committee Members: In- Absent Zoom Person Mark Shroder, Chair X Dan Behrend X Kyla Erman X Parisi Fida X Meaghan Hart X Donald Hays X Jeff Lemieux X Edward Joseph Ridge X Joseph Tannir X Staff: Eric Valentine, Staff Liaison X Rakhmel Rafi, Grants Coordinator X Guest: Brendan Wray, Member of the Public X I. Call to Order Mr. Shroder called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. II. Approval of Agenda and the Minutes from May 16, 2024 Meeting Mr. Tannir made a motion to approve the agenda and the Meeting Minutes from the May 16, 2024 Meeting, seconded by Mr. Ridge. All in favor, none opposed. The motion carried 5-0-0. III. Bike to Work Day Report Out – Erik Valentine (with Donald Hays, Meaghan Hart, and Mark Shroder if wanted) Announcements Mr. Valentine announced that he is leaving his position at the end of the month and that today would be his last BPAC meeting. The committee appreciated the work of Mr. Valentine and wished him well in his future endeavors. Mr. Valentine announced the Baltimore Avenue project is completed with final striping to start soon. Evidence of bike lanes on Route 1 are becoming more apparent. The Hollywood Road construction is also slated to start soon. The Micromobility Project is underway and almost concluded. Full curb repair, sidewalk repair and reconstruction on Wichita is happening and should be completed before students return from summer break. Remember to report any hazardous conditions in the area such as downed tree limbs or tripping hazards.  There is an opportunity to comment on a new Bicycle and Pedestrian Impact Statement (BPIS) for a new development in the vicinity of Frat Row, Leonardtown, and the Trolley Trail. Such improvements might include ramps, intersections, new crosswalks, improved lighting, ADA-level improvements, bike separation, speed bumps, etc. Ms. Fida and Mr. Tannir agreed to form a subcommittee that will compile a working list of recommendations. The Planning Staff will provide the subcommittee with an approximate cost cap geared to fund likely improvements. Any requests from the City Council will come from the Planning Staff who will in turn get input from BPAC. Developers are looking for such input on improvements for planning purposes. Mr. Shroder reported that the focus of the BPAC Bike to Work Table was the City’s Near Miss Site and showing the community how to report on near miss accidents. Most of these incidents have been located on the University of Maryland campus and downtown areas. There is a need to do more work to publicize the site for reporting near misses. Mr. Rafi will get the City’s Communications team involved in the effort to increase awareness and utilization of the site. Mr. Shroder wants the City’s Communications Team Plan to be included as an agenda item for next month’s meeting. Mr. Shroder and Mr. Valentine reported that the Bike To Work event was well attended, with one to two hundred people participating. Having spent a pleasant ninety minutes working the BPAC Table at the event and in recognition of Ms. Hart’s commitment to help Mr. Valentine set up the Bike to Work Table at five o’clock in the morning on the day of the event, Mr. Valentine and Mr. Shroder nominate Ms. Hart as “BPAC-er of the Month.” IV. Updates on Draft Safety Improvement Plan, if any – Erik Valentine and Jacob Vassalotti The Safety Improvement Plan will be built out and ready in time for the new fiscal year (FY25). The Plan will be sent out via email and available for people to comment on it. Mr. Shroder wants the Safety Improvement Plan to be included as an agenda item at next month’s meeting. V. Discussion on Map(s) of City Alleys and their Potential Use as Bike/Walkways, if any can be found – All There are numerous alleys in the City of College Park originally designed for trash pick-up. Existing all over the city but not well known, these alleys are still controlled and maintained but not necessarily owned by the City. It may be worth finding out if any of the alleys are appropriate as alternate paths for bicycles and pedestrians and if they are not functional, recommend that they be turned over to property owners. The Department of Public Works is responsible for their maintenance and because of that will have a list of their locations. Mr. Valentine and Mr. Vassalotti will provide that information to BPAC two weeks before the next meeting.  District 4 Councilmember Maria Mackie is interested in analyzing the safety of the roads in the Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) system. A BPAC Subcommittee would be in good position to study the issue and report out to the City Council or share their results with Planning Staff who will share the information with the City Council. PG County has a list of all the bus stops available. Montgomery County developed a Safe Routes to School report that the subcommittee might reference. The National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) has an Excel spreadsheet toolkit to analyze safety. The Councilmember’s initiative stems from the tragic accident last year in which two children were hit and killed by a car in an intersection on their way to Riverdale Elementary School. Mr. Shroder recommends Mr. Hays to head the subcommittee. Mr. Wray is interested in child and pedestrian safety and volunteered to join the subcommittee. The work of the subcommittee will be to analyze school bus stop safety and identify the places at highest crash risk. The subcommittee should have their report by the July or August BPAC meeting. Mr. Valentine or Mr. Rafi will inform Mr. Hays that he has been selected to lead this School Pedestrian Safety subcommittee. What the Council will likely do is vote on what the Planning Staff puts in front of them. The City Council will probably accept whatever recommendations that BPAC makes about school pedestrian safety. One location to note is that the intersection between Edgewood Road and Rhode Island Avenue are still problematic even with recent improvements– the road is still wide southbound and used for hot rodding. VI. New Business/General Discussion/ Future Agenda Topic Mr. Lemieux announced the Digital Passport Program that encourages community members to ride or bike along the Trolley Trail and get their virtual passports stamped by participating businesses along the trail. See the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/762342739112468/?ref=newsfeed Mr. Vassalotti can address the idea about raising the crosswalks on Edgewood Road as a non-punitive traffic calming device at the next BPAC meeting. Mr. Valentine announced that new members will be joining the next BPAC meeting. VII. Adjourn – next meeting is July 18, 2024 Mr. Lemieux made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Tannir. All in favor, none opposed. The motion carried 5-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:52pm. Respectfully submitted, Ms. Georgene Osborne, Contract Secretary