Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes Salem Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Committee Wednesday, March 6, 2024 | 6:30 p.m. City Hall Annex 1st Floor Meeting Room & Via Remote Participation Members Present: John Wathne (Chair), Matt Caruso, Paul Carson, Cat Seiferth, Colleen Downey, Josh Nagle Members Absent: Connor Ryan, Annie Wolf, Walter Morrell, Charlie Heaps Also Present: Tom Devine, Senior Planner Call Meeting to Order Wathne calls the meeting to order. Public Comment Wathne opens public comment and there are none. Introduction of New Member Paul Carson introduces himself to the Committee. Communication from resident regarding North Street Document referenced: Urgent Safety Concerns Regarding North Street Bike Path, 1/4/2024 email and attachment from Dana J. Quigley Devine shared correspondence from a North Street resident with concerns regarding the North Street safety project. He reports that the Mayor has scheduled a meeting with staff from the Planning and Transportation departments as well as with the Ward Councilor to discuss the correspondence. Next steps might include the joint meeting of the Bike Committee and Traffic & Parking Commission to evaluate the project. This would also be an opportunity for the public to speak as well as for discussion of potential longer-term improvements to the corridor such as full reconstruction. Caruso asked what changes could be implemented in response to the concerns and what the role of the Committee is for determining these. Devine states that the City is open to ideas. Changes already after the completion of the project include an additional crosswalk. The location of the buffer zone flexposts may have been adjusted as well. Ward 6 Councilor Meg Stott says she is getting a lot of feedback on the project from many residents, including the concerns listed in the correspondence. She believes this deserves a larger conversation that looks wholistically at all feedback. 1 Wathne asks Councilor Stott how she would describe her constituents’ overall feelings about the project. She says there isn’t a unified view of it. For example, she’ll meet three people and one will hate the project, another will love it, and the third will have no opinion. She recognizes that the corridor might not be working perfectly today, but it also wasn’t perfect before the project. Wathne says a concern he hears is that it doesn’t connect to downtown yet. Stott thinks there is still value to the segment even before the full network and all its connections are built. Wathne wonders if there should be a public workshop. Devine says the eventual joint public meeting will be an opportunity for that kind two-way communication on the project. Stott says there were forums for the design of the project. Caruso wonders how the feedback for North Street compares to Fort Ave. He thinks some of it is the initial response to the change in the roadway and how people use it and this fades over time. Devine remarks that the City’s misstep in doing insufficient outreach for Fort Ave. was a lesson that led to doing more substantial outreach for North Street. Stott says there was feedback related to the initial shock of the changes for both projects. Downie adds that she still hears feedback that is critical of the bike lanes, but in Mr. Quigley’s letter, some of the concerns are about the behavior of drivers of cars and trucks. She suggests a broad conversation about whether cars are following the rules to keep people safe. She is curious to see the data on speed and other metrics since the project was implemented. She says that as someone who walks and bikes regularly, the cars are the main safety concern for her, especially with cars running the red light when she crosses at North and Mason Streets. Caruso asks if data is still being collected and Devine confirms. Stott had shared data with her constituents and Devine will forward that to the Committee. Bike Parking Ordinance Devine says this should be tabled because Wolf, who is leading this, is away. Bike Parking at Stores Wathne signs the updated letter to stores regarding bike parking. Devine will update the group on who receives the letter and when. Bikeshare Ridership Data for February Document referenced: Salem Bluebikes Data through 2/29/2024, slide deck. Devine reports that the Bluebikes data portal has been updated and what is available and how it can be presented has changed. He reminds the group that while he can filter 2 and display the data, he doesn’t have much ability to manipulate it beyond that. Ridership is low as usual this time of year, but the City is approaching 30,000 total rides. Downie says she notices Bluebikes being transported on bus bike racks and wonders if that is skewing that data. Devine suspects that these bikes are missing from the system, since a paying rider probably wouldn’t want to keep one for the length of time of a bus ride. Nagle asks if we know what the most popular connections between stations are. Devine says the raw data is available but it requires some work to present it. An intern was looking at this but didn’t get too far during their short internship. Nagle thinks he may be able to do this and will make an attempt. Launch of North Shore Coastal Bicycle Collaborative Wathne attended this group’s inaugural gathering. It is a coalition of advocates from the surrounding cities. He notes that Salem is far ahead of the surrounding communities in terms of the level of support in the community. There are volunteers doing good work in other communities, but they are not achieving the same level of infrastructure as Salem. He says Salem should be grateful for how far they have come. Wathne says one of the topics discussed in the group was the new Vulnerable Users Law, and MAPC’s master map of all the bike routes in the region. Nagle is interested in assisting with updating that map with all the varied municipal maps. The group also suggests they communicate with elected officials in a coordinated way. The Committee discusses gaps in the bike network between Boston and the North Shore. Caruso shows information he received from MassDOT in his car registration notice regarding the Vulnerable Users Law and would like to see the materials used more. Staff Update Devine reports that the City has deployed about 15 additional parking meter bike racks. The next to be deployed will be standalone swerve racks on North Street and Bridge Street. Devine states that some new Bluebikes e-bikes have migrated into Salem. People can rent these before they are returned to the core municipalities. At the same time, the City remains interested in officially bringing e-bikes to Salem. Devine expects a new member to be appointed shortly to fill the Committee’s remaining vacancy. Conflict of Interest Training Devine lets the group know that each of them need to do the state’s conflict of interest training every two years and new members have to do it when they start. Devine says 3 that this is accessed through each member’s salem.com email account, which they are all encouraged to use for Committee business. Devine asks the members to let him know if they have any problems accessing their salem.com email accounts. Meeting Minutes Caruso motions, Downie seconds, and all vote to approve the November 11, 2023 minutes. Adjourn Nagle motions, Caruso seconds, and all vote in favor to adjourn at 7:23 pm. *** Approved by the Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Committee on 8/6/2024. 4