Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes Salem Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Committee Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | 6:30 p.m. City Hall Annex 1st Floor Meeting Room & Via Remote Participation Members Present: John Wathne (Chair), Annine Wolf, Cat Seiferth, Matt Caruso, Walter Morrell, Charlie Heaps. Emmylou Manwill Members Absent: Connor Ryan, Paul Carson, Josh Nagle Also Present: Tom Devine, Senior Planner Call Meeting to Order Wathne calls the meeting to order. Public Comment Alexa Ogno of Federal Street mentioned the upcoming MassDOT Bridge Street reconstruction project public meeting. She hopes the Bike Committee will advise MassDOT regarding her comments. She is concerned about the project’s limited scope that doesn’t get through downtown in any meaningful way or to North Salem. It is an isolated path segment. The Committee wishes to discuss this at the next meeting. Alexa also welcomes the Committee to join the Bike Bus Thursday at 8:00 AM. Staff Update Devine provides the following updates: • The City’s legal staff provided clarity on how the state’s Open Meeting Law and local Open Meeting Ordinance apply to the Bike Committee. Members may attend and plan events together without worrying about a quorum, since it is not part of the specific mission of the Committee as established by the City Council. Members can communicate outside the meeting on topics within the Committee’s jurisdiction provided it is not a quorum of members, so fewer than six. However, legal staff recommend limiting such interactions because in general the public expects Committee business to occur at its public meetings. Devine suggests that whenever anyone has any questions on how to proceed with a particular communication, he can get guidance from legal staff. • There is a cleanup event for the Salvo Bike Path meeting at Sidelines on November 9. Registration is required. 1 • The North Shore Bicycling Collaborative is meeting November 12 in the evening in Wenham. • The City seeks a Bike Committee representative for the Boston Area Metropolitan Area Planning Organization’s Route 114 corridor study working group. John Wathne volunteers. Safe Streets for All Action Plan “Meeting in a Box” Input Session Document referenced: City of Salem Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan Meeting-in- a-Box, Kittelson & Associations, JM Goldson, undated. Devine leads an abbreviated “Meeting in a Box” input session for the Safe Streets for All Action Plan. Devine explains that this public engagement mechanism is based on scripted discussion prompts that anyone can lead. The purpose is for members of the community to supplement the outreach that the City and its consultant are doing. He notes that any member of the community is welcome to lead a session with any group. While the typical session is expected to take an hour, Devine leads an abbreviated session limited to approximately 30 minutes. What road(s) in Salem do you feel the most safe walking, biking, and/or driving on? What about this road/these roads make(s) you feel safe? • Bridge St. by Community Life Center with its separated, well-lit path and crosswalks • Salvo Bike Path • Chestnut St., except when traffic calming planters are too close together: Slow speed limit, wide street, space for bikes • Fort Ave. with separated path • Federal St. thanks to width and speed humps. • Any street with speed bumps • Side streets around Salem Common with low car traffic • Dalton and Essex near Boston St. What road(s) in Salem do you feel the least safe walking, biking, and/or driving on? What about this road/these roads make(s) you feel unsafe? • Loring Ave. at Leggs Hill Road biking south, lacks shoulder on southbound side. More challenging when northbound cars swerve around car turning onto Leggs Hill Road. • Anywhere downtown with high car volume and inadequate bike lanes. The striped lanes are put where most convenient and leads bikes into dangerous places. • Bridge St. from train station to Bridge St. bypass where there is no protected bike route. • Highland Ave between First St. and Dalton Pkwy where bike paths end. Lack of street markings invite chaos. 2  • Boston St. is terrifying on bike between Witchcraft Heights neighborhood and Bridge St. multiuse path. Bridge/Boston St. intersection difficult to traverse on bike with reckless drivers. Have to walk bike through. • Any road with more than one lane in each direction automatically dangerous and encourages cars to compete. • Roads coming out of downtown. In general cars drive recklessly as they get out of downtown congestion and are impatient. • Beverly Salem Bridge – Designed like highway, promotes speeding. • Proctor/Highland area – Cut through car traffic speeds and disregards neighborhood. Lacks “no through traffic sign”. • Essex Street at Ropes Mansion in October: Crowds and barriers City places push bikes into road. • Essex St. has dark areas • Derby St. at Charlotte Forten Park – Venders park in bike lane. Common behavior throughout downtown with vehicles parking in bike lanes. • Derby/Margin St. left turn lane’s worn out markings cause confusion. • Downtown where people double park. • Lafayette St. at Lead Mills – Salem/Marblehead line. Northbound cars travel at high speeds. If you are comfortable sharing your story, have you ever been in or witnessed a car crash in Salem? If so, where was it and what happened? Please feel free to reach out to the project team directly if you are more comfortable sharing the information privately. • One participant’s car was rear ended twice in one day in Salem. • Witnessed crashes at Boston/Bridge Streets intersection. Drivers cross yellow lines. • Not a crash, but an uncomfortable situation: Near miss on Memorial Drive where impatient driver beeped, yelled, and aggressively passed bike. • Bike run down by car in front of Flatbread Pizza. • Tapped by truck on Lafayette Street while biking. What does safe transportation for Salem mean to you? • Connected, separated bike paths throughout city accessible in every neighborhood. Lack of connectivity is main criticism of path network. • Transitioning from car-oriented transportation system. Cars are the biggest safety threat. • We can’t build the dense housing we want if everyone drives. People will need to be able to walk and bike. • More roads in downtown shut down to cars. Extend pedestrian mall to North Street. • Slower cars. More enforcement. More speed bumps. • Cars and trucks have become dangerously large. 3  • Prohibited right on red. • Better lighting. • Flashing lights at crosswalks. • Better crossings like in the UK: Fewer but better crossings with enforcement. o Crossing signal buttons often not conveniently located for bikes • Smart (but not excessive) use of cameras for enforcement. What do you think the most pressing transportation safety concerns are in Salem? What do you believe is causing the greatest number of crashes? • Car speed • Distracted drivers • Lack of lighting Is there anything else you’d like to share with the project team about Salem’s transportation safety? • Need integrated and holistic approach to planning to design around bikes and pedestrians, rather than limited changes to a car-focused system. • The road network is such that many drivers must pass through downtown Salem to get places. Cars circling in search of parking contribute to the congestion too. Is there a way to get more vehicles to bypass downtown? • It would be interesting to learn how European places with similar geography solve transportation problems. Amsterdam and Copenhagen are examples. • Would like better busing. • The commuter rail needs to be more reliable. • Consider rules limiting how tourists can travel to Salem. Devine reminds the group that they are encouraged to participate through the project’s other engagement opportunities that include an online survey, task force meetings, and an upcoming public forum. Update on Franklin Street Waterfront Path Document referenced: 4 Franklin Street Redevelopment, CAS Salem, LLC, Site Layout & Building Design; undated slide deck. Devine refers to visuals he share by email of the path that is included in the site redevelop plans for the ambulance facility at the corner of Franklin and North Streets. He explains that Chapter 91 requires non-water-dependent development on filled tidelands to include public accommodations such as this project’s public path. Bikeshare Data and Program Updates Document referenced: Salem Bluebikes Data through 10/1/2024, slide deck. 4 Devine notes that the City had high ridership in October, even slightly higher than last year’s peak. The City offered local residents and workers a free month of membership again. Manwill explains that there should be a better system for issuing the free month. She suggests finding an alternative that doesn’t require emailing city staff. She also notes that the Dalton Parkway station was often empty or full in October. Caruso is interested in seeing data broken down between resident and non-residents. Devine says we know peak usage is in the tourist season. But we don’t know if it is all tourists riding or residents who ridemore during this time that driving and parking a car is difficult. Event Planning Wolf had corresponded with Kylie Sullivan of Salem Main Street regarding partnering on bike valets for events such as the Food Truck Festival or Salem Main Streets. The group discusses the bike valet as an opportunity to talk with bikers. They also discuss the logistics of such an event. Devine will keep this item on the agenda. Bike Parking Ordinance Devine will be meeting with Councilor Cohen to discuss this. The group had done some work that will be useful for whichever direction the Committee takes with it. FY25 Community Preservation Plan – Request for Comment/Input Devine explains that the Community Preservation Committee welcomes comments on the annual plan update. The committee hasn’t had comments in several years because its suggestions were fully incorporated in past years. Caruso asks if the funding application review criteria that includes encouragement of bike accommodations has resulted in the actual inclusion of bike facilities. Devine says some funds have gone to affordable housing developments, which would have scored higher in the evaluation if they have bike storage, but Devine doesn’t know offhand whether they include bike storage. And the funds also support park renovations which all have some bike storage. Palmer Cove Park goes further with a connection through it for bikes and the City has made sure it is a 10’ path when it otherwise might have been narrower. The group has no new comments on the plan update. Committee Vacancy Devine reports that the Mayor nominated Kevin Jordan to join the Committee. He lives in South Salem and commutes to work by bike and train. 5 Meeting Minutes Manwill identified a typo in the draft 5/1/2024 minutes. Wolf motions and Heaps seconds to approve the 5/1/2024 meeting minutes with edits and all vote in favor. Adjourn Wolf motions and Manwill seconds to adjourn at 7:56 pm and all vote in favor. *** Approved by the Bicycling & Shared Path Advisory Group on 4/2/2025. 6