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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/15/2015MINUTES Approved MPO REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 – 1:00PM UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Terry Dahms, Louise From, Sherrie Proud, Sherrie Proud, Michelle Ribble, Zac Hall (for Mike Moran), Shelly Simpson, Brian Loring, Janelle Rittig, Anne Duggan MEMBERS ABSENT: Doug Boldt OTHERS PRESENT: Brock Grenis, Brad Friedhof, Del Holland, Ed Kringle, Brian Morelli, David Stoner STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Walz, Emily Bothell 1. CALL TO ORDER; RECOGNIZE ALTERNATES; CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Walz called the meeting to order at 1:03 PM. Walz asked the Committee to approve the Minutes from the March 10, 2015, meeting. Dahms made a motion to approve the minutes; Proud seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None 3. TRAIL COUNTS SUMMER 2015 Walz explained that MPOJC interns have been gathering trail counts this summer at locations requested by local communities. If there are other areas that communities would like to get counted this fall requests should be made to her. Rettig requested that construction projects or other factors effecting counts should be included in trail records so that years into the future there will be a ready explanation for dips or gaps in the trail count data. An example of this is the Dubuque Street construction projects. Dahms requested a grand opening or ribbon cutting for the Dubuque Street bridge over I-80. 4. DISCUSS POSSIBLE CHANGES TO METRO AREA TRAIL MAP VERSION 2016 Walz reported that 10,000 trails maps were printed this year and were distributed quickly—she has fewer than 50 remaining. She wanted the committee to give some thought to changes or improvements they may want included on the next map. She noted that on the back of the map there is a relatively empty panel which could be better used to display information/educational content. She asked the committee to think about the intended audience and primary purpose of the map. For instance, it remains unclear whether or not the map ought to be a general recreation map or solely a trails map. There was some agreement that the current map works best if you already know the area. If you do not already know the area, the map lets you know where the trails are, but they do not know where to get started on them. It would be good to clearly mark trailheads. Walz provided some examples of some other trail maps noting that the MPO map contains a great deal of information, but wondered if it contained too much—e.g. shopping, post office, library, many street names, etc. She asked whether we might want to feature certain trails (longer trails/important commuter trails) with call-outs as one of the examples showed. These descriptions could include trailhead locations, length of trail, and features along the trail. Rettig said she thought that was a great idea, especially for longer trails such as the Iowa River Trail and Herbert Hoover Trail. Once the Dubuque Street Bridge is completed the IRT will be a “destination trail” and it may begin to attract tourism. The current map doesn’t fully accommodate that purpose. Friedhof agreed with Rettig and said he did not believe hiking trails, such as those at Kent Park, needed to be included. He said this really should be a bike map and once people get to a destination, such as Kent Park, there are maps available to guide them for hiking trails. He suggested that in the future the committee should be thinking about the potential for another map with ECI-COG as trails start to connect on a wider regional level with other counties. Walz asked the committee to consider whether or not the map should show the entire county with gravel roads or if that should be left to the County road map. Rettig advocated for showing the rural routes and including recommended routes or loops that go out to Oxford, Lone Tree, and Sutliffe Bridge. Dahms agreed saying the map should be multi-purpose and show the gravel roads and roads with shoulders. Friedhof asked whether the trail information could be part of the County GIS. Walz said that she would check on this. Another committee member asked whether the trail information was part of the state repository. Walz said it was. Proud said that not so many people take the trail map at her office. She said folks are interested in short rides or how to get places within Coralville. She said there is also a lot of interest in phone apps. Rettig said mobile electronic application of a trails map needs to be executed well enough for it to be useful and convenient. This can be challenging as evidenced by other organizations’ difficult to use mobile trail maps. Walz asked the committee to send any other ideas or suggestions to her via email. She will bring back a full set or proposed changes to the next meeting. 5. REPORT ON CORALVILLE TRAIL TREKKERS PROGRAM Walz said that she and Bothell had attended the Iowa Trails Summit at UNI and much discussion had focused on getting youth onto tails. She knew that Proud had an interesting program in Coralville to do this, so she thought it would be good for others to know about it as there may be opportunities to replicate that program in other areas. Proud said the Trekkers Program started in 2001 and was inspired by a program in Cedar Falls where they were connecting middle school aged kids with their bikes so that they have something to do during the summer. She said there is a need for programming for Junior High age kids whose parents want something less structured. The camps run all summer, Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM. The program involves biking to places to do a variety of service projects on a weekly basis. Mornings focus on the service projects. The kids share a responsibility for planning their service project each week. They use their bikes as much as possible, and they often use trail routes to get to the location of each service project. A police officer talks about bike safety, and they get a lot of experience riding and learning trail etiquette. Each weeklong camp costs from $85 to $110 dollars, depending on whether a major destination is involved. They average about 20 kids a week. Two adults run the program. They offer scholarships for kids and have donated bikes from the Coralville Police for kids who need them. 6. RECAP BIKE TO WORK WEEK (BTWW) 2015 Duggan said the BTWW committee is centralized for funding and promotion, but each event or activity is the responsibility of the organization or person who proposes it. There were many new activities including an open house, scavenger hunt, and organized rides, including a family ride, a full moon ride, library events, and a bike maintenance event. There were bike breakfasts each morning and she has opportunities for additional breakfasts next year. She said they had official BTWW proclamations from all the communities except North Liberty. Duggan summarized other highlights of the week. Many entities worked together to make the week a success. 7. UPDATE ON UNIVERSITY OF IOWA/IOWA CITY BIKE SHARE PROGRAM The university received a state grant to start a bicycle share program and a month ago received an additional $50k from Coca Cola. For reasons having to do with the grant, the City of Iowa City transit program will manage the bike share. A request for proposal is going out to bike share companies this fall. The goal is to have the bikes in place by May of 2016. They will consider facilities in other communities in the future. Venders will bring some experience to choosing station locations, but there will be opportunities for public input. One challenge for administering the program will be getting bikes to where they are needed when they are needed. 8. PRESENTATION ON LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN REVISION PROCESS Walz summarized the process for updating the next long range transportation planning, the process for which is just getting underway. Each community in the local urbanized area is represented and all modes of transportation are considered. Now – October, presentations on the MPO and LRTP to interested groups Oct. 15 – Dec. 15, collect data and public input for the LRTP Jan. 16 – Sept. 16, prepare the draft document and receive feedback Sept. 16 – May 17 (due date), public comment period and document adoption Notices will be made available to inform interested parties of the locations and dates for public input. In addition, if we have the necessary funding MPOJC will hire an outside consultant to take a look at the bicycle and pedestrian master plan. Walz said she hopes to have an update on that decision by the time of the next meeting. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 will be the next regional trails and bicycling committee meeting. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM