Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

Approved 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) 2 Meeting Minutes 3 Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2021 4 Time: 7:00 p.m. 5 Place: City Council Chambers, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801 6 Members Present: Bill Brown (Chair), Shannon Beranek, Annie Adams, Cynthia Hoyle, Audrey 7 Ishii, Susan Jones, Sarthak Prasad, Nancy Westcott 8 9 Late Arrival: Annie Adams 10 11 Staff Present: None 12 13 Others Present: Shea Belahi, Operations Manager 14 15 Members Absent: Kara Dudek 16 17 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM 18 Bill Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. A quorum was present. 19 20 2. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 21 Cynthia Hoyle indicated that she had questions and would provide additional information about the topic that 22 was discussed last month when she was unable to attend. 23 She moved to add Equity and Quality of Life Projects to the agenda. 24 Susan Jones seconded the motion. 25 26 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING (JULY) 27 Audrey Ishii said that she understood that the Slow Street plan was not to be actively pursued. She suggested 28 that on page 2, line 27, the statement should read, “would not be actively pursued.” 29 Nancy Westcott concurred with Audrey Ishii’s change. 30 31 Sarthak Prasad updated the information about the re-opening of the Campus Bike Center. He said that a 32 conflict with a University of Illinois’ football game required the re-opening to be re-scheduled to Thursday, 33 September 16, 2021. 34 35 Sarthak Prasad moved to approve the meeting minutes from the July 20, 2021, as amended. 36 Cynthia Hoyle seconded the motion. 37 The motion to approve the meeting minutes, as amended, was unanimously supported by the Commission. 38 39 4. PUBLIC INPUT 40 Bill Brown narrated a muted video clip sent to him of an incident between a bicyclist and motorist outside of 41 the City limits (near Savoy). Bill Brown cautioned that motorists should provide adequate room (minimum of 42 three feet) for bicyclists when passing and share the road. 43 44 Annie Adams asked if there was a way to obtain more accurate crash data. Bill Brown said that he obtained 45 information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). General discussion occurred regarding the 46 inability to obtain confidential information about crashes. Discussion followed which included Commissioners 47 stating that they would like more information about crashes. 48 49 Bill Brown stated that the new WikiMap on the Vision Zero site allowed people to self-report incidents. 50 51 Page 1  Approved 1 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 2 a. VeoRide Update – Shea Belahi, Operations Manager, VeoRide 3 Shea Belahi discussed the VeoRide Program in Urbana, Champaign, and on the University of Illinois campus. 4 She discussed the history of the VeoRide Program in the Urbana-Champaign area and nationally. One point 5 she mentioned was that the pedal bikes had been phased out and replaced with Class 1 electric assist bikes (E- 6 bikes). She discussed successes (e.g., donation of bikes for local community events, increased ridership, 7 increased duration of rides) and challenges (e.g., COVID impact on ridership, inability to partner with 8 community organizations, vandalism, theft) She showed other rental options, such as scooters, which were 9 available in other communities and explained the advantages of those options over the Class 1 E-bikes. 10 Lastly, she outlined VeoRide’s future plans for the area, which included becoming the sole vendor for 11 scooters and E-bikes, a multi-year contract, and the addition of more options. 12 13 Commissioners discussed concerns about the current geofencing restricting locations where the E-bikes could 14 be used. Some also expressed concerns about requiring E-bikes to be returned to bike racks as part of the 15 rental program. Commissioners stated that both of these requirements would discourage ridership. 16 17 Sarthak Prasad mentioned that the University of Illinois’ bicycle policy prohibited the use of scooters on 18 sidewalks and prohibited the rental of Class 2 electric assist bikes. 19 20 b. Vision Zero 21 Cynthia Hoyle reviewed the results of a meeting Bill Brown and she had with Mayor Marlin to create a Vision 22 Zero Committee. Cynthia Hoyle reported that the Mayor would investigate what type of group would 23 facilitate the development of a Vision Zero Plan and the Mayor stated that group would focus on safety. 24 Cynthia Hoyle added that members would not be asked to do outside work as part of the group—they would 25 be asked to provide input. She said the Mayor pointed out that community leaders were stretched thin serving 26 on various committee and commissions to address important issues in the community area. Cynthia Hoyle 27 stated there was a WikiMap available that would be expanded to include information about Champaign. She 28 discussed placing the map on various sites to allow people to self-report near-misses and crashes. She 29 expressed the desire to send out a press release once more information was available about the program. 30 Discussion ensued. 31 c. Update Equity and Quality of Life (EQoL) Projects 32 Cynthia Hoyle questioned the process of allowing residents within a neighborhood to decide what projects 33 would be completed using the EQoL funding. She felt that the projects might need to be considered based on 34 the needs of the community as a whole and require research to determine the best use. She presented her 35 thoughts on what criteria might be used to evaluate proposed projects. 36 37 Cynthia Hoyle mentioned that she liked many of the elements presented in the Equity and Quality of Life 38 Program. Ms. Hoyle stated that she preferred giving points to projects that were part of existing plans. Audrey 39 Ishii mentioned that she thought the EQoL funds should be used for projects that were not part of existing 40 projects. Shannon Beranek said that these funds should not be used for planned projects. She suggested that 41 the funds might be able to be used for plans that were not approved for specific grants, but were worthy of 42 support. 43 Discussion ensued. 44 Shannon Beranek said that the program was still under development and would be discussed at next month’s 45 BPAC meeting. Page 2  Approved 1 6. REPORTS OF CITY OFFICIALS AND STAFF AND REPORTS OF COMMITTEES 2 a. Website Updates/Corrections 3 Shannon Beranek reported that construction on the Lincoln Avenue and Springfield Avenue would be starting 4 soon. She said that if the project did not have any delays, the concrete work would be completed by December 5 2021 and the entire project would be completed by June 2022. She stated that at least one lane of traffic in each 6 direction would be open at all times. She reported that work on University Avenue was scheduled to be 7 completed by November 2021. 8 9 Bill Brown asked about updates to the website. The Recording Secretary discuss the progress on updating the 10 site. 11 12 Sarthak Prasad asked about the street markings on Green Street. Shannon Beranek said an upcoming pavement 13 marking project would include painting of markings on Green Street. She said that crosswalks on Green Street 14 were the responsibility of the University of Illinois. Shannon Beranek stated that the Champaign County 15 Regional Planning Commission would report on the results of the study of Florida Avenue once the information 16 had been processed. 17 18 Discussion ensued. 19 7. NEW BUSINESS 20 No new business. 21 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS 22 a. Bike to Work Day has been scheduled for September 14, 2021—8 a.m. to 10 a.m.—17 stations within 23 Champaign County 24 b. Light the Night has been scheduled for September 14, 2021—4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 25 c. Campus Bike Center re-opening has been re-scheduled for September 16, 2021. 26 d. A walkability audit of the U of I campus will begin soon. 27 e. All abandoned bike paths proposed by the U of I were part of the Campus Bike Plan. 28 f. The bike shelter near Fourth Street in Champaign has been installed. The shelter has a capacity for 96 29 bicycles. 30 g. Urbana Park District will have an open road event at Crystal Lake Park on October 3, 2021. 31 h. Prairie Cycle will have a bicycle tour on Saturday, August 21, 2021. 32 i. ITEP Grant was awarded to Urbana Park District for bike path at Crystal Lake Park and Champaign 33 County Forest Preserve for the Kickapoo Rail Trail. 34 j. Champaign County Bikes volunteers provided bicycle safety training for various children’s programs 35 over the summer. 36 37 9. FUTURE TOPICS 38 a. Equity and Quality of Life (EQoL) 39 b. Vision Zero 40 c. Bike Rack Installation 41 42 10. ADJOURNMENT 43 The meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m. 44 *** 45 46 Respectfully submitted, 47 Barbara Stiehl, Recording Secretary Page 3