Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Monday, May 11, 2020 5:30 – 7:40 P.M. Online Meeting This meeting will be held online. Please join from your computer, tablet or smartphone using the link below. https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/216708517 You can also dial in using your phone. United States: +1 (646) 749-3122 Access Code: 216-708-517 New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/216708517 Public Comments Public Comments can be submitted up to one hour prior to the meeting. This allow those involved with setting up the meeting an opportunity to review those comments ahead of the meeting and prepare for sharing them. The comments can be submitted to City staff (at the contact information listed at the end of this document) in the following formats. o Email o Letter o Video o Audio message (mp3, etc.) Agenda Item Time Description 1. 5:30 pm Call to Order Jack Brown, Chairperson 2. 5:31 pm Approve Previous Meeting Notes Jack Brown, Chairperson 3. 5:45 pm Public Comments This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the board on bicycle and pedestrian matters in Wichita. When addressing the board please state your name. Jack Brown, Chairperson  Yale Bikeway – Ikram Ahmed 4. 6:00 pm Clapp Park Master Plan Park Department staff will provide an update on the status of this civic initiative. 5. 6:20 pm City of Wichita Budget Jack Brown, will introduce a discussion on the Board’s recommendations to the City Council for the 2021 budget. 6. 6:40 pm Council District Bicycle Tours Jack Brown, will introduce the discussion of city council district bicycle tours. 7. 6:50 pm Staff Project Updates Notice – City Council Members may attend this meeting.  Scott Wadle, Transportation Department will provide an update on scooter, bicycle, and pedestrian projects. 8. 7:00 pm Board Member Project Reports Jack Brown, Chairperson 9. 7:15 pm Board Comments and Closing Thoughts This is an opportunity for board members to share comments regarding bicycling and pedestrian issues in Wichita. Jack Brown, Chairperson Next WBPAB meeting June 8, 2020 Public Comment Submission Information Public comments may submitted ahead of the WBPAB meeting to the contact listed below. Email swadle@wichita.gov Address Wichita Transit Attn: Scott Wadle 777 E. Waterman Street Wichita, KS 67202 Phone 316.352.4824 Notice – City Council Members may attend this meeting.  Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Monday, March 9, 2020 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. 777 E. Waterman, Bldg. 200 Wichita Transit Van Maintenance Facility Wichita, KS 67202 Meeting Notes Members present: Elizabeth Ablah, Jack Brown, Jane Byrnes, Barry Carroll, Russell Fox, Christopher Parisho, Marcia Schroeder, Tyler Stutzman & George Theoharis Members Absent: Maxine Bostic City Staff: Scott Wadle, Transportation Department, Lee Carmichael, Public Works &Utilities Guests: Clayton Pearson, Alan Kailer, Rick Sroufe, Donna Carrell, Nathaniel Richardson, Kelly Wenz, Matt Stiles, Sarah Gooding, Casey Boultinghouse, Item Description 1. Call to Order: Jack Brown, Chairperson, welcomed board members, City staff, guests and called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. 2. Approve Previous Meeting Notes: The February 10, 2020 meeting notes were approved. 3. Public Comments:  Alan Kailer, Board President of Bike Walk Wichita, Inc., [BWW] reported that he had recently met with the Director of WAMPO. During the meeting, Alan provided a letter to the Director that summarized BWW’s position on bikeability, walkability, and consecutiveness within the City and County’s infrastructure. Alan then provided the letter for review by the board. The board thanked Alan for his comments. 4. Downtown Streets Conceptual Plan: Scott Wadle, Transportation Department, provided a presentation on the status of the Downtown Streets Conceptual Plan process and open house planned for March 24th. Scott noted that this would serve as a briefing before the public meetings on Tuesday, March 24th. According to Scott, the City is taking a more holistic approach to the downtown area. The boundaries for this study will be the river to the west, Murdoch to the North, Washington to the east and Kellogg to the south. There will be two sessions on March 24th [11:30 am & 5:30 pm]. The board and members of the public were encouraged to attend. 5. WAMPO Future of Transportation Focus Group: Matt Stiles & Sarah Gooding, WSU Public Policy & Management Center, facilitated a discussion for the board and audience regarding the future of transportation in the Wichita region, for the next 20 years, on behalf of the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. For approximately, 20 minutes, the board and members of the public provided responses to questions posed by the WSU staff members. In addition, Matt implored those in attendance to complete the WAMPO survey. In closing, Matt thanked everyone for their participation. The input will be forwarded to WAMPO staff for consideration. 1  6. CIP Recommendations – City of Wichita 2021-2030: There was an opportunity for the board to review crash data and to consider a recommendation for the proposed City of Wichita’s Capital Improvement Plan. The board thanked Elizabeth Ablah for compiling the crash data. For approximately 30 minutes, the board reviewed the various projects, with input from Lee Carmichael, Public Works and Utilities, and prioritized projects for the CIP for 2021-2030. The board made a decision to recommend that a separate line item for ‘Safe Routes to Schools’ be added to the CIP. Jack Brown, Chairperson, will draft a letter to reflect the input and forward to the board for review and comment before submitting to the City Council. Jack noted that the City Council will likely adopt the CIP in August 2020. In closing, Jack thanked Lee, Scott, the board and members of the public for their informative comments and input. 7. Staff Project Updates: Due to time constraints, there were no updates. 8. Board Member Project Reports:  Redbud Path from K-96 Path to 159th: Work is underway.  17th Street from Broadway to I-135: Work has commenced.  Waco from Douglas to Central: Work is continuing  Tree Planting: Forestry staff have been planting trees along the Linwood Path 9. Board Comments & Closing Thoughts:  Board Retreat: Jack Brown reiterated that a special call board retreat is needed; the retreat would be held in addition to our regularly scheduled meeting. A date, time and location has yet been determined.  Spring Walking/Biking Tour: A date, time and location will need to be determined.  Strong Town Book: A discussion was recently facilitated by Russell Fox at Friends Univ.  Street Fight Book: Bike Walk Wichita’s book club will read and discuss this book.  ‘Walk Kansas’: This initiative has begun and will last for eight weeks.  ‘Walking Wednesdays’: Bike Walk Wichita will host walks at various locations. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8 pm. The next meeting of the board will be held on April 13, 2020 @5:30 pm. Respectfully submitted. 😊 Barry Carroll, Board Secretary 1  Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Monday, April 13, 2020 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. 777 E. Waterman, Bldg. 200 Wichita Transit Van Maintenance Facility Wichita, KS 67202 Meeting Notes Members present: Elizabeth Ablah, Maxine Bostic, Jack Brown, Jane Byrnes, Barry Carroll, Russell Fox, Erik Maybee, Marcia Schroeder, Tyler Stutzman & George Theoharis Members Absent: City Staff: Scott Wadle, Acting Director of Planning Guests: Clayton Pearson, Alan Kailer, Rick Sroufe & Donna Carrell Item Description 1. Call to Order: Jack Brown, Chairperson, welcomed board members, City staff, guests and called the virtual meeting to order at 5:30 pm. 2. Approve Previous Meeting Notes: Approval of the March 9, 2020 meeting notes was tabled until the May 11, 2020 meeting. 3. Public Comments: There were no comments. 4. City of Wichita Budget: Scott Wadle, Acting Director of Planning, provided a PowerPoint presentation for the board’s review. Due to the pandemic, there will likely be dramatic changes to the budget. Listed below is a summary of the presentation: the total budget is approximately $625M; 56% of the budget is for public safety; there are many sources of revenue for the budget; city staff are currently reviewing the core functions of the budget; there is currently a hiring freeze; some projects could be delayed; there will be a better assessment of the budget by June; the City Council will likely approve the Operating Budget in August. The board agreed to review their 2019 budget recommendations and make formal budget recommendations to the City Council at the May 11, 2020 meeting. 5. Staff Project Updates: Scott provided brief reports on the following: shut down of scooter service, status of senior walking routes, trip counters have been installed on paths, status of wayfinding signage, Broadway corridor study, cancellation of the planned ‘Open House’ and the proposed study at 9th & McLean. According to Scott, not much has changed with these multimodal projects. 6. WBPAB Officer Elections: Scott provided an update on the recent Municipal Code as it pertains to the City’s advisory boards. Some board members need to contact their City Council Members and/or Mayor regarding their appointments. After considerable discussion, the following officers were elected: Jack Brown, President; Elizabeth Ablah, Vice President; Barry Carroll, Secretary. 1  7. Board Member Project Reports:  Redbud Path from K-96 Path to 159th: Work is underway.  17th Street from Broadway to I-135: Work has commenced.  Waco from Douglas to Central: Work is continuing.  Tree Planting: Forestry staff have been planting trees along multiuse paths. 8. Board Comments & Closing Thoughts:  Board Retreat: Jack Brown reiterated that a special call board retreat is needed; the retreat would be held in addition to our regularly scheduled meeting.  Spring Walking/Biking Tour: A date, time and location will need to be determined.  Street Fight Book: Jane Byrnes noted that Bike Walk Wichita’s book club will read and discuss this book. A virtual meeting will be held on April 22nd at 6 pm.  ‘Walk Kansas’: This Bike Walk Wichita initiative will last for eight weeks.  ‘Walking Wednesdays’: Bike Walk Wichita will host walks at various locations.  Mt. Vernon Improvements: George reported that work is underway.  Clapp Park: It was noted that the park is now open to pedestrians and cyclists. George noted that the Park Department is developing a ‘Master Plan’ for Clapp Park.  Joint Meeting Proposed: Jack Brown suggested representatives from Bike Walk Wichita, District Advisory Boards and City Council members should meet and bike and/or walk in designated areas of each district in an effort to educate everyone on the active transportation needs and review of completed projects.  WAMPO Transportation Committee Meeting: Jane reported that she will attend the next meeting and advocate for increased funding for bike/ped infrastructure. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:05 pm. The next meeting of the board will be held on May 11, 2020 @5:30 pm. Respectfully submitted. 😊 Barry Carroll, Board Secretary 1  May 6, 2020 Wichita Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board Via Email c/o Jack Brown, Chairperson We understand that the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board will soon be making recommendations to the City concerning the City’s 2020-21 General Operating Budget, possibly at its meeting scheduled to be held on May 11, 2020. Bike Walk Wichita would urge the Advisory Board to prioritize the hiring of a Bicycle/Pedestrian person on the City staff in its recommendations. Since the upcoming meeting may be held virtually, it might be easiest to put our thoughts down in writing. Prioritize Hiring of Bicycle/Pedestrian Staff Person in General Budget Recommendations The Advisory Board annually makes a recommendation to the City concerning priorities in the City’s General Operating Budget. In the past, the Advisory Board’s recommendations have included a list of several items relating to bicycle and pedestrian issues. We believe, and ask that the Advisory Board recommend, that the single most important item for the City’s general budget is the funding of a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian representative on City staff, for several reasons: o While the Advisory Board members are dedicated and interested, they do not have the time in one monthly meeting, the professional expertise, or the day-to-day contact with other City staff to maintain constant oversight on the City’s bike/ped activities. o The staff liaison to the Advisory Board has also been assigned numerous other duties. Although he has been very responsive to the Advisory Board and a valuable resource on bicycle and pedestrian matters, the fact that he has several other obligations significantly dilutes his ability to focus on bicycle and pedestrian matters. o Despite the Advisory Board’s good efforts, the City is significantly behind in its goals under the Master Bicycle Plan and the Master Pedestrian Plan. o Although we agree with and endorse Advisory Board’s prior recommendations for several projects to be funded through the general obligation funding, we believe that May 6, 2020 2 Wichita Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board Via Email c/o Jack Brown, Chairperson the various recommendations for other projects would have greater success if a staff person was assigned exclusively to bike/ped matters. We know that the Advisory Board has recommended a bike/ped staff position for at least the last two years. But this has been included as only one of several recommendations and has not been adopted by the City Council. We believe that hiring of a dedicated bike/ped staff person would result in a better long-term outcome, even if that requires the exclusion of other recommended items in the current budget. Therefore, we believe that the Advisory Board should highlight the importance of the hiring of a dedicated bike/ped staff person. We understand that the current economic environment will make it more difficult for funding of any new hiring or projects. However, this makes it all the more important that City hire a dedicated staff person to highlight the need for continued bicycle and pedestrian improvements and to work within the City structure to assure that the most important projects are funded. When funds are scarce, it is precisely the time that it is most important to have a dedicated member of the City staff present to advise the City about the most needed and efficient ways to allocate its budget. Sincerely, Alan Kailer, President Bike Walk Wichita Bikewalkwichita.org  Clapp Park Legend Parcels 0.3 0 0.15 0.3 Miles Map Created On: 5/5/20 9:16 PM This information is not an official record, and cannot be used as such. The user should rely only upon official records available from the custodian of records in the appropriate City and/or County department. Some data provided here and used for the preparation 1: 9,600 of these maps has been obtained from public records not created or maintained by the City of Wichita.