Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission

Wheaton Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission November 20, 2024 7pm Gammon Room, Wheaton City Hall, Wheaton, IL In person and Virtual meeting I. Call to Order 7:00 pm Members present: Michelle, Lou, Bob, Rita, Bill, George, Mike, Cate, Connor Members absent: Laurel Public Present: Melisa Ribikawskis, DuPage County Senior Transportation Planner II. Agenda Item Approval of October Minutes Motioned: Bob Seconded: Bill Unanimously approved via voice vote. III. Public Comment A. Presentation & Discussion with Melisa Ribikawskis, DuPage County Senior Transportation Planner DuPageCountyPowerPoint2024 They will be working on Phase I of their Active Transportation plan that focuses on public outreach. This initiative is being funded by DuPage County. We offered to help them get the word out about In person and/or virtual meetings, surveys and pop up events and activities. IV. Agenda Item Chair Report- A. November City Council Meeting Bill provided the following summary: 1. We made no presentation to the City Council meeting following the instructions WBPC got in response to the Annual Report, shared by Michelle. 2. The bulk of the meeting was concerned with discussing and approving building codes (1), easements (1), rezoning issues (1) and construction contracts (1). ● Only the rezoning issue seemed at all interesting to WBPC. It involved converting the property on the SW corner of Roosevelt and Main streets from office space to apartments. This is mainly interesting because the conversion will include a 10’x20’ easement to improve bike/pedestrian crossing. It also involves reducing parking to 38 spaces and expanding green space, largely to make it more palatable to neighbors on Park Street to the south. WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 20, 2024 B. City Review of Annual Report Final Report from City of Annual Report Our Response to the City C. Safe Routes/Bike to School D Grant Writing/Bike Plan Consultant ● Kyle Moss reported that he is working on getting a letter of support from CMAPu for the SS4A grant we submitted in August. On 11/15/24, DOT sent an email to Kyle Moss informing him we were not selected. The good news is approximately $2 billion is still expected to be made available for SS4A over the next two fiscal years and we can re-apply for the next round, which is expected to open before March 2025. For 2025, per recommendations we received from the consultants we spoke to about updating our bike plan, here are some other grant/funding opportunities: ● IDOT Statewide Planning and Research Program - Date for projects would be February 2025 https://idot.illinois.gov/transportation-system/transportation- management/planning.htm ● DuPage Mayors/Managers Conference ● CMAP Local Technical Assistance Program - Call for entries every February ● Partner with DuPage County on Countywide Bike Plan ● ADA Transition Plans E. IPP Welcome Signs - They are now installed. F. Virtual History Ride Bill received notes from Bob G from History ride. They were very extensive. Bill summarized the notes for Rich in Communications to use for the Virtual History Ride. Thanks Bill for your work on this. V. Ongoing Business A. Co-Chair position for 2025 Michelle has agreed to serve 1 more year, but then we will look for another co-chair to replace her. Lou will continue as co-chair for next year as well. B. Annual Report Discussion i. Proposals discussed with Engineering before presenting to Council so they are feasible & we have Engineering buy- in/backing. We will be working on the best process to discuss our proposals with Engineering and will use the “Clear sidewalks” proposal as a “pilot”. ii. Safe Routes years out. After all traffic patterns finalized. The City indicated in our Annual Report, that the traffic pattern analysis may take 24-36 months to complete, so this will be a long term project to be revisited at a later date. iii. Wheaton Park District to be a Working Bikes Drop site They are figuring out where this site will be and will let us know. C. Clear sidewalks/bus stops Proposal 2 WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 20, 2024 Michelle will reach out to the Director of Engineering again to discuss the feasibility of this proposal. D. T-shirt orders Rita will put the t-shirt order in tomorrow. E. December City Council meeting Mike agreed to be our main person to attend/watch the council meetings and report back to us. F. December Dinner instead of meeting Rita suggested Arrowhead for dinner on 12/17 at 6:30 pm. G. Press release for Safe Travels for all CMAP Laurel will create a press release directing people on how to enter issues. VI. New Business A. Slow Rides - This is being done in Glen Ellyn. These are more family oriented events that we might co- sponsor with the Wheaton Park district. We will discuss further in March 2025 when we are putting together our group rides calendar. B. 2025 WBPC Roadmap Michelle mentioned that this roadmap is on our drive, so if there is something you think we should talk about at an upcoming meeting, please put a note about it in the appropriate month. Next Meeting: January 15, 2025 X. Adjournment - 8:37 pm Approved 3