Advisory Bike/Walk Taskforce

City of Norwalk Norwalk Bike/Walk Taskforce Meeting Minutes December 5, 2016, 6:00pm Health Department, 2nd Floor Library 137 East Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851 Attendees: Kaitlin Latham, Gunnar Waldman, Tim Callahan, Nancy Rosett, Kevin Kane, Jim Carter, Peter Libre 1. The November minutes were approved unanimously. 2. Informational items a. The Taskforce reviewed highlights from the November DPW/BWTF meeting minutes: i. In January, Paul Sotnik will obtain a list of ConnDOT’s projects planned for Norwalk. ii. Peter and Gunnar will draft an action plan for Rt. 53/East Ave by the January meeting. b. The Taskforce reviewed the traffic study results on Beach Road and Water Street. Peter shared the following opinions: i. Location of speed sensors was inconsistent, despite notification about this problem from members of the task force. Since before and after speeds were recorded on different parts of the road, the data collection methodology was flawed. ii. The DPW analysis focused on excluding the 15% (~1/6) of cars that were going fastest, and measuring only the 85% (~5/6 of cars going slowest. The whole point of narrower lanes is that they don't hinder at legal speeds, but they do discourage speeding. So the analysis should have focused on the fastest 15% of drivers, since this is where an effect was expected. The analysis flaw was brought to the attention of Mr. Chimiento and Sotnik at the November DPW Bike Walk meeting. 3. The Taskforce agreed that they achieved the following goals of the 2016 strategic plan: a. Understand the structure of Norwalk’s government in order to advance our mission. b. Develop a working structure for the Taskforce by developing subcommittees. c. Create one north-south bike route in 2016. d. Create one east-west bike route in 2016. e. Print new maps for all NorWalker routes in 2016. f. Identify and understand the key elements of Complete Streets.  Goals that are still in progress and new suggestions for 2017 include: a. Gain recognition as an official advisory board to the Mayor. b. Develop a strategy for education and implementation. o Educate common council and public works on CT’s Complete Streets law o Develop a one-page Complete Streets overview document o Develop an annual report c. Organize a regional Complete Streets seminar d. Publicize the N/S and E/W bike routes e. Participate in the development of Norwalk’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) f. Work with other city departments to promote a bike share plan g. Translate 50% of NorWALKer maps into Spanish h. Launch 3 additional neighborhood walking groups i. Work with City departments and private organizations to establish a bike garden in Norwalk 4. NCC’s graphic design intern created two branded logos for the Taskforce. Present members provided feedback on both designs. Kaitlin will present the Taskforce’s feedback to the artist and should have the revisions by late December. 5. Members reviewed the draft Bike/Walk Advisory Committee Ordinance, which includes a description of the composition of the Committee and duties of Committee members and City departments. 6. Peter shared his concerns about the bike lane widths on Beach Road, suggesting 10’ travel lanes with 5’ bike lanes rather than the 11’ travel lanes and 4’ bike lanes that exist now with the temporary paint. Nancy noted that with total width of the road varies and that 5’ bike lanes may not be possible for the entire stretch of the road. It’s confusing to cyclists if bike lane widths fluctuate often, so she suggested keeping the consistent 4’ bike lane throughout the road. 7. Peter noted that there are very few parking spots at the East Norwalk train station, and suggested bike lanes under the East Ave train overpass to encourage more commuters to ride their bike to the station. He also suggested the installment of bike spaces so that more commuters can ride their bikes to/from the train station and alleviate the parking congestion.