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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle Committee Minutes 1994-05-26 Regular e FRIENDSWOOD BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 26, 1994 1. Call to Order. The Bicycle Advisory Committee met on the above date at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall. In attendance were Barbara Fawcett, Mel Measeles, Joe Tennison, Sandy McHone, Todd Yeager and Melinda Wasson. Tom Maloney of Bike Pro attended as an interested citizen. Mel chaired the meeting as Tony LeCara was unable to attend. 2. Minutes of March 31, 1994. The minutes were approved as printed. 3 . Report from Chair. No report. 4. Status of ISTEA projects. Mel said our projects did not make this round of funding. We need to resubmit them for the next round of funding. Council will be starting the budget process soon and he will see what kind of local matching funds we could appropriate for next year. Melinda Wasson said Sam Jacobs, a Junior at Friendswood High School, would like to present his Centennial Greenway Project to the Committee in July or August. She passed around a copy of his proposal, which she said includes the bikeway concept of connecting schools and parks the Committee has developed. 5. Urban/Suburban Bicycle Street Compatibility Evaluation. Melinda reported James Bishop, CAD draftsman with the Engineering Department, has our map and she will follow up to see if he can make the changes. It was concluded we need to show that we are doing more work on our plan this year to improve our chances of receiving funding on our bikeway project next year. 6. Discussion and possible action regarding the intersection of F.M. 518 and F. M. 528. After discussing the problem of the lack of a transition at the intersection due to two different roadway designs, the committee voted to write a formal letter to the City Manager. It was concluded we need to state that F.M. 518 has a wide paved shoulder and F.M. 528 has a bicycle lane. There is no transition for the bicyclist who is turning or crossing through the intersection. The cyclist must ride in a lane of automobile traffic on F.M. 518 to travel through the intersection. Conversely, a cyclist traveling on F.M. 528 must travel in a lane of traffic on F.M. 518 to get onto the shoulder. We also want the City Manager to know that due to the extensive new construction going on in Friendswood, the F.M. 518 shoulder has a lot of debris and needs to be sweeped. The Committee discussed other alternatives to getting the F.M. 518 shoulder cleaned if the Highway Department cannot get to it soon. Having teenagers sentenced to community service sweep the shoulders was discussed. Barbara Fawcett said she will contact Judge Woltz to see if this would be feasible. 7. Agenda Items for Next Meeting. Committee participation in the July 4th festivities was discussed and it was pointed out that Mike McNabb and Bruce Cunningham offered to help. Todd said we could promote the wearing of helmets in the parade, or make it a requirement to be in the parade. Tom Maloney said the Shriner Circus clowns, who ride bicycles, could be here at our request. He reported that Jess Williams and Lockwood Bank will give away bicycles on the 4th of .July for the best costume. He will provide Melinda with the Shriner Circus address so we can write to them. I After some discussion the Committee concluded we should approach the Police Department about having police officers on bicycles. Tom Maloney said he sold six bicycles to the Alvin Police Department. Mel thought it would cost about $1, 000. 00 to outfit one officer. He suggested if we could get an officer outfitted the officer could approach cycling youth who are wearing helmets and give them gift certificates as a reward for doing so. The Committee could approach local businesses and the Chamber to see if they would contribute to a fund to accomplish this. We would first need to approach the Police Department and Chamber to see if they would be interested. Another item for the agenda next meeting will be to discuss changing the bylaws to allow for alternate members to vote when regular members are unable to attend. Both Melinda and Sandy will be out next meeting. People who have expressed an interest are Tom Maloney, Bruce Cunningham and Mike McNabb. The next meeting is scheduled for June 23 . Melinda will contact Tony. and Sandi Warminski to see if they will be able to attend. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Melinda Wasson Recording Secretary