Complete Streets & Bikeway Committee

COMPLETE STREETS COMMITTEE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN November 13, 2018 Meeting Minutes In attendance: Beth Emery, Debby Stanley, Laura Baum, Howard Reid, Tom Quirk Review of minutes of October 2018 meeting: accepted Complete Streets website: 10/15/18 - CS would like to post on the City of Middletown’s website, however at this time the website is still in the updating stages. Deb Stanley mentioned her office (Parks and Recreation) fields calls from area residents and visitors regarding bike routes in the city. A goal of CS would be to participate and update biking and hiking routes on the website. The information must be user friendly and routes easy to follow. Ron reminded that Pedal Power has bike routes on their website. Middletown’s First official bike route: 10/15/18 - Appears to be a lot of interest in this issue with city officials. The proposed route will run from downtown, DeKoven area, Stop and Shop, East Main Street to Millbrook Road area. Newfield Street Corridor Path: 11/13/18 – Howard to present at the PW meeting on 11/14/18 and encouraged attendance if possible Bike/Walk to School: 10/15/18 - Kat has volunteered to reach out to parents at the schools who will send letters to PW regarding issues they feel are important and assist with promoting CS goals. She will encourage participation in the Bike/Walk to School Programs. Bike to School Day is May 8, 2019 and Walk to School Day is October 17, 2019. Kat will work on coordinating efforts with the schools and city officials to promote these activities. 11/13/18 – CS to talk with Kathy Ellis about assisting Kat. 10/15/18 - Kat has expressed an interest in bike lanes on Main Street. She volunteered to prepare designs to present to city officials identifying the safety and need for bike lanes on Main Street. Community and City involvement is necessary for success of these projects. Wesleyan University Bike Share Program: 11/13/18 - CS to try and obtain additional user data to determine where to concentrate efforts. Weslayan University will hold off before bringing in another bike share company. Saybrook Road, East Main Street and Tryon Street Project: 10/15/18 - RFP has been submitted for bids. 11/13/18: Howard noted there will be another public hearing before work progresses. Mayor’s Youth Council: no update. Sustainable CT: 10/15/18 - The City received a Bronze standing. According to the report, CS accounted for approximately 1/3 of the points achieved. There is a necessity to review the application to ensure those items listed are accomplished as identified and/or on the list to be completed. This is an opportunity for CS goals to be reviewed and coordinated with this award. Complete Streets Plan: CS to determine if the plan has been adopted by the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development. Community Calendar: No upcoming events Nur Fitzpatrick: 10/15/18 - Nur attended a meeting for the first time in hopes of soliciting CS with getting the North End Gardens on the map. She would like CS to assist in promoting the North End gardens by putting them on the bike routes brochure and city website for residents and visitors to tour, in hopes it would encourage people to come to the North End. She is attempting to make the North End a more friendly area to visit. New business for November: Revisit the CS Action Plan to identify our priorities and determine if CS is on track. 1. Bike to School day 2. Make CS more well known to the public 3. Possible create a pedestrian awareness week 4. Coordinate with the Director of Planning on bike/scooter share goals 5. Push for more mountain bike access to trails? 6. Benches on Main Street? Competitive Cycling Event: The Middletown Rotary Club is considering hosting this event in fall 2019; CS to voice support for the event. Main St. Sidewalk Bump-outs: Tom Quirk noted the RFP for sidewalk bump-outs on Main St. was issued by the DOT. Tom will forward a link to the bid documents along with drawings from the West St. Bridge upcoming project. Prepared by Tom Quirk Next meeting scheduled for December 10, 2018.