Complete Streets & Bikeway Committee

COMPLETE STREETS COMMITTEE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN January 14, 2018 Meeting Minutes In attendance: Howard Reid, Tom Quirk, John Hall, Beth Emery, Kat Young, Lisa Liesener, Debby Stanley, Laura Baum Review of minutes of December 2018 meeting: accepted Complete Streets website: 1/14/19 – Middletown finally has a new website! Complete Streets has been provided a page. Beth Emery to talk with Brian the webmaster about the best way to plan setting up our page. Once consulted CS will discuss the layout and content for the new site. Some potential content discussed: meeting times, committee names, contact information, maps, bike routes, events, notices, annual report, the complete streets plan, and links to other resources. CS to establish a Google doc to allow input by all committee members. Middletown’s First official bike route: 12/10/18 – The route will be finalized once signage is installed. 1/14/19 – It is expected that the signage will be installed sometime this year. Newfield Street Corridor Path: 12/10/18 – The city will be moving forward with the design process. Cardinal Engineering has been hired to develop the design scope. The process is expected to move slowly but CS will follow it closely. 1/14/19 – John noted that Bill Russo will schedule a public hearing in February so that Cardinal and the Department and the Public Works Commission can hear input about the design of the trail. Bike/Walk to School: Bike to School Day is May 8, 2019 and Walk to School Day is October 17, 2019. 12/10/18 – Kathy Ellis has agreed to help. It was noted that the most successful past event happened when Enza Macri (Associate Superintendent of Schools) took charge. 1/14/19 – CS is planning a meeting with Mike Conner (Schools Superintendent); Lisa, Laura, and Howard to attend. CS will reach out to Mark Langton (School Transportation Manager) to see if he would like to attend. 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. 12/10/18 – Bids are due back in January and construction will begin sometime in 2019. 1/14/19 – Due to funding issues this project will be pushed back to 2020. 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. 1/14/19 – The city will submit again in about a year and attempt to obtain silver; the submission committee will meet monthly on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 5:30 and CS members are encouraged to attend when possible. Complete Streets Plan: 12/10/18 – The plan is not currently included in the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development. CS to work on ensuring the plan is incorporated into the new Middletown Plan of Conservation and Development due in roughly 14 months. The city will be hiring a new planner to begin creating the updated C&D plan. 1/14/19 – The new planning director, Mark DeVoe, has issued an RFP to draft a new PoC&D; CS to solicit Mark and the public’s input on potential changes to the CS portion of the plan. Per Connecticut requirements the full plan must include an implementation plan. Community Calendar: No upcoming events New business for January: The following list of potential priority projects was developed to review/coordinate with Public Works at the meeting scheduled for 1/22/19 at 10am: 1. *Butternut Street Sidewalk (carry-over from 2018) 2. L Newfield Street multi-use trail (carry-over from 2018) 3. Long Lane multi-use trail extension to downtown bike route. 4. Additional bike route(s) 5. S L Main Street Extension sidewalk from Main to Saybrook Rd project 6. S Missing sidewalk sections East if Vine St, heading toward Washington Terrace. 7. S Curb cuts on High St. at the intersections with Court and Williams Streets. 8. *L Old Mill Street Sidewalk. 9. Training Hill Rd Development Sidewalks (are they in the current plan) 10. S Durant Street sidewalks between the Senior Center and Pat Kidney Field. 11. L Bike Rout between Court and College Streets 12. Plaza Drive Apartments trail (pave it, it’s dirt now) *-High population/high use projects S-Sidewalk in-fills/improvements L-Larger effort projects CS discussed performing a city-wide sidewalk gap analysis CT DOT will perform a full traffic study regarding the Route 9 rework prior to the next public meeting in the fall. Mark DeVoe, the new Middletown Planning Director plans to meet with CS in March; CS to send him a copy of our current plan for review prior to the meeting. Prepared by Tom Quirk Next meeting scheduled for February 11, 2019.