Advisory Bike/Walk Taskforce

City of Norwalk Norwalk Bike/Walk Taskforce Meeting Minutes November 7, 2016, 6:00pm Health Department, 2nd Floor Library 137 East Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851 Attendees: Kaitlin Latham, Gunnar Waldman, Tim Callahan, Nancy Rosett, Colin Grotheer, Kevin Kane, Jim Carter, Peter Libre, Mike Heslin, Peter Franz 1. The October meeting minutes were unanimously approved. 2. Informational items a. Nancy reviewed meeting minutes from the October BWTF/DPW meeting. b. Mayor Rilling sent a letter to ConnDOT regarding the striping of East Avenue/Route 53. No response has been received as of today. c. Mayor Rilling sent a letter to Commissioner Redeker regarding Route 1. No response has been received as of today. Tim and Nancy also met with Darien’s health director and the first selectman regarding making Route 1 more bike and pedestrian friendly. d. Nancy sent a letter to Charles Harlow (ConnDOT) regarding Route 123 striping plans. Striping plans include 11’ lanes and 5’ shoulders to better accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists. If Norwalk wishes to establish bike lanes on this road, the City must enter a maintenance agreement with the state and create its own signing and marking plan in order to obtain a permit. e. e3Think planned to apply for the CT Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, but the City already applied for this grant in order to develop the NRVT. It was decided to withdraw the e3Think’s application in hopes that the City and the NRVT is awarded the grant. 3. ConnDOT presented on their plans for improving the Route 7/15 connection in Norwalk. Its purpose is to connect Route 7 to the Merritt Parkway in all directions. The project’s final design is anticipated to be completed by 2018 and work is anticipated to begin by 2021, at a cost of ~$175 million. For more information on the project and public involvement, please visit http://7-15norwalk.com/. Nancy will provide names to ConnDOT of BWTF members interested in joining the advisory committee in the future. 4. The Silvermine neighborhood had its first community walk on Saturday, October 22 nd. Deborah Lewis led a walk through Silvermine following a local NorWALKer Route. Community members interested in forming a walking group have been identified and Deborah will work with them to schedule walks in the future. Mayor Rilling is supportive of this initiative and will help promote it via his weekly walks. If anyone is interested in joining Silvermine’s walks or forming walking groups in new neighborhoods, please reach out to Kaitlin. 5. The Norwalk Health Department and Norwalk Public Library teamed up to host a Pokémon GO event in Vet’s Park on Friday, October 28. Kaitlin overlaid all PokeStops and PokeGyms (where Pokémon hang out or compete) on the SoNo and Downtown NorWALKer maps. The event was a huge success and brought some great attention to the NorWALKer Routes program. It’s likely that more Pokémon GO events will occur in the future months. 6. Kaitlin and Jonathan met with John Alvord, NCC’s graphic design department chair, and Lindsay Greene, graphic design intern, to discuss the creation of a BWTF logo. Kaitlin and Jonathan shared the BWTF history and vision for the logo with John and Lindsay, and they both agreed that this logo project could be completed by the end of the semester. Lindsay and John will provide three possible ‘directions’ for the Taskforce to discuss at the December meeting, and the logo design should be complete by the end of the month. 7. Tim contacted the creator of Seattle’s traffic garden who said that the project cost the City ~$100,000. He shared the idea with Recreation and Parks, and the director, Mike Moccaie, is on board as long as funding is found. Possible locations around Norwalk would be the parking lot behind Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, Calf Pasture Beach, or Vet’s Park. 8. e3Think met with Planning and Zoning, Redevelopment, Nancy and Tim and it seems that both City departments are on board for the privately funded bike share. The 6 station, 40 bike pilot program is on track to be up and running by the spring. Mike Heslin shared that the bike parking should be artistic rather than just a hunk of ugly metal, and suggested members check out www.dero.com for suggestions. 9. Peter Libre suggested that the Taskforce meet with Mayor Rilling, Bruce Chimento, and the City’s law department to clarify the Complete Streets law so that everyone is in agreement of its interpretation. The Taskforce is not asking for bike lanes/sharrows on every street, but only on the streets identified on the master bike plan. If a street is on the plan and any construction  occurs, then bike facilities should be included. Tim shared that he is meeting with Mayor Rilling, a City lawyer, and Nancy soon to discuss the Mayor’s vision for a future Complete Streets Commission. They will keep the Taskforce updated after the meeting occurs. 10. Nancy will circulate a GoogleDoc for Taskforce members to upload their suggestions for the 2017 Strategic Plan. Ideas at the moment include corporate/community outreach, motorist and bicyclist education, how to work better with ConnDOT, etc. The Strategic Plan will be discussed at the December meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:35pm.