Complete Streets & Bikeway Committee

City of Middletown Complete Streets Committee Regular Meeting Minutes Monday, June 13, 2022, 7 PM Location: Online WEBEX Meeting Attendees: Laura Baum, John Hall, Zoemma Warshafsky, Cat Young, Lisa Liesener, Tom Quirk, Chris Holden - Host 1. Current/ongoing projects: ● Air Line Trail – Farmington Canal Trail (ALT-FCT) Connector Study Update - ○ AFT-FCT - River COG doing a study to connect all trails to create a regional trail, they have to submit a proposed scope of work to the DOT for approval. Should be submitted within the next few weeks; DOT may take up to 3 months to review due to understaffing. ○ Newfield St Multi-Use Trail - Waiting on an archeological study near Tuttle Rd, which should be starting soon. ● Micro-Transit: bike share program RFP - No updates ● Bike Friendly Middletown application - Cat is still interested in working on this but not available yet. Maybe in the fall. We’ll keep it on the agenda. ● Possible use of ARPA funds for Complete Streets project(s) - High St corridor making street crossings more ADA friendly. Deadline for funding requests is the end of June. ● Washington & DeKoven Dr intersection - intersection is nearly impossible for pedestrians to cross safely; could possibly be fixed by changing traffic light timing. Will have to be brought to DOT to remedy. CS will put on the agenda for the July PW meeting. Chris is to confirm who from DOT would be a contact. ● Lyceum Road - ○ Motion made by Tom Quirk to ask Laura Baum to draft a letter to the Mayor, Common Council and Public Works Department supporting closure of Lyceum Road. ■ Motion seconded by Cat Young ■ Vote by committee members Baum, Liesener, Quirk, and Young unanimously in favor of the motion. ○ Complete Streets Committee agrees that the road should remain closed. Position is based on pedestrian safety/enjoyment; environmental considerations; and fiscal responsibility. ○ CS supports the opinion of Middletown Public Works and the Middlesex Land Trust to close the road to vehicle traffic permanently. 2. Reports from other pertinent regular meetings/events: ● Middletown Public Schools Health and Wellness Committee - no updates ● ECOIN - no updates ● Sustainable Middletown - CS should reach out to Kim O’Rourke soon in her new role as Sustainability Coordinator for Middletown ● Sustainable CT - no updates ● MxChamber Environment and Infrastructure meeting - no updates 1 3. New Business: ● Washington & Rte 3/Vine intersection work - DOT work going on at Washington St and Rte 3: doing crosswalks ● Riverfront Master Plan Reveal on July 2 - Cmte discussed maybe doing a bike ride of the area that day but we want to be sure it doesn’t distract/cause issue with any of the city’s plans for the day. Would be nice if someone knowledgeable about the new Riverfront plan could participate in the ride and make it a tour discussing aspects of the plan. Lisa will follow up. ● Committee members - Laura will follow-up with Debbie Stanley to see if she wants to continue serving or would like to resign her spot. She would have to send an official letter to the mayor if she’s going to resign. Notes: - Next meeting: July 11, 7 p.m. – Location Online: WebEx - Next quarterly Public Works/Planning deps. Meeting: Thurs, July 7, 10 a.m. Zoom 2