Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission

Wheaton Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission February 19, 2025 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, Connor, Rita, Bill, Cate, Mike Members absent: Laurel, George Public Present: None II. Agenda Item Approval of January Minutes Motioned: Bill Seconded: Michelle Unanimously approved via voice vote. III. Public Comment IV. Agenda Item Chair Report- A. February City Council Meetings Mike reported the following from the 2/3/25 meeting: - No citizens to be heard - Ordinance to amend building codes 2018 ICC Code and 2017 National Electric Codes to the 2024 ICC codes and 2023 National Electric Code (effective March 1st) - Ordinance to create DuPage Governmental Center Zoning District (and ordinance to amend current zoning map to accommodate new zoning district) - Ordinance to create Roosevelt Road Corridor District/Ordinance to rezone properties along Roosevelt Road to new Roosevelt Road Corridor District - One citizen comment: A owner of the property at 402 E Roosevelt Road who hopes the new Roosevelt Road Corridor will help his business - Changes to downtown city parking: -3 hr time limit customer parking (8 am to 6 pm M-F) -"BlueDot" program for downtown employees to park ($50 annually, employers would buy for employees) BlueDot spaces can also be used by public but have to abide by time limits -Black Trailblazers Event at DuPage County Historical Museum -Downtown Wheaton Association Meeting -Daily Herald - named Wheaton as having the best downtown atmosphere! -20% rise in membership WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 19, 2025 B. Grant Writing/Bike Plan Consultant On 1/28/25, Kyle Moss, Michelle and Lou had a debriefing with USDOT regarding our original grant submission. The USDOT staff member emphasized that the key item missing was a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan that needed to be connected to our request to update our Bike/Ped. plan. He said we could either request funds to create a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (which could be done jointly with our Bike/Ped. plan update) or check to see if CMAP has an Action plan that we would be covered under. Kyle did check with CMAP on this and they are working on a qualifying Safety Action Plan, but work on it has been paused due to the federal freeze. CMAP also will launch a call for projects in March that we could apply for. Kyle will continue working with them to determine the best way to proceed. The next NOFO (notice of funding opportunity) for USDOT is scheduled before the end of March 2025, however, there is a hold on all grant programs at this time. We will check their website frequently for updates. www.transportation.gov/grants/SS4A/ C. 5 Year Roadwork Plan Per Michelle, Mike Dzugan asked Joe T. for it and forwarded it to us. Michelle is seeing if any upcoming roadwork would be on streets plan for bike lanes or something else. V. Ongoing Business A. Blanchard street repaving 2025 (see pg 22 bike plan & 2025 roadwork plan-pg 2) 2 areas to be repaved: Naperville Rd. to Darwin Circle and Darwin Lane to President. Our bike plan recommended shared lane markings on either side of the street and a 10 ft. wide sidepath on one side of the street between Naperville Rd. and President Street. Michelle will reach out to Mike Dzugan to ask for someone from Engineering to come to our March meeting to discuss this plan for Blanchard. Other things we plan to discuss with Engineering are: -Has the City received the right of way along Carlton yet? Follow-up on our proposed Carlton/Roosevelt sign -Bumping the curbs out at more intersections for safer pedestrian crossings -Follow up on Seminary shared lane markings -How does Engineering work with IDOT? -Safe Routes to School B. Slow roll ride with WPD 2025 The purpose of these rides is to encourage kids and families to bike together. It was suggested that we start with south side neighborhood parks, such as Briar Patch, 7 Gables or Atten Park. We may combine the slow roll ride with another one of our regular rides. Bob suggested we email our group and history ride people and the people who completed our survey, to get their input. Michelle will reach out to Susan Bishel at the City of Wheaton and ask her to create a survey for this purpose. C. Brainstorming Biking Needs for Seniors The survey we are requesting for the slow roll ride will also provide us with input on seniors' needs. D. Press release for EBDRT Survey Michelle emailed our group this survey earlier this month. E. 2025 Calendar of Events i. Group Rides Michelle will email out last year’s calendar of rides (draft) and asked that people sign up for the rides they want to lead. . Slow Roll Ride pilot will plan to do one of these rides this year and evaluate. iii. Any other “special” rides we want to add Rita will check to see if there is a Black Student organization at our high schools that we could invite to the Juneteenth group ride. 2 WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 19, 2025 iv. Recycling Extravaganza Apr 12 Michelle will contact the organizers to see if they still need volunteers. Michelle will also check with Wheaton Park District on the status of them becoming a working bikes site. v. Bike & Roll to School May 7 We will get a press release out to schools about this event. vi. Bike Valet June 7 (Carolyn Wilkin @ WPD needs yes/no and hours) Bob will let Carolyn know we will be doing the bike valet from 6:30-11 am. vii. Paige Donahue Event Michelle left a message for Paige’s mother and has not heard back yet about an event date. viii. Walk & Roll to School Oct 8 We will get a press release out to schools about this event. ix. History Ride 1. Sept 6 or 20 It was decided we will do it on Sept. 20 and have Sept. 27 as a rain date. Bill will check with Bob G. first about his availability before finalizing this date. 2. Vote on topics Our top 3 topics are Sears kit homes, famous people and gardens. Bill will give these topics to Bob G. and get his ideas. VI. New Business None Next Meeting: March 19, 2025 X. Adjournment - 8:34 pm Approved 3