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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle Advisory Committee - Minutes - 04/24/2023 BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING –REGULAR April 24, 2023 6:00 p.m. Hybrid Meeting – Zoom and 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 1 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Dave Dixon Vice-Chair: Jordan Williams Staff Liaison: Cortney Geary 1. CALL TO ORDER Cortney Geary called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. ROLL CALL (INTRODUCTIONS) BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Brian Kurotsuchi Lauren Nagle Dave Dixon, Chair, Bike Fort Collins Jordan Williams, Vice Chair, At Large Member Greg Boiarsky, Air Quality Advisory Board Ed Peyronnin, Colorado State University Campus Bicycle Advisory Committee Whitney Allison, At Large Member Danielle Buttke (for Kevin Krause), Natural Resources Advisory Board Rob Owens, Transportation Board Elisabeth Cairnes, At Large Member Marcia Richards, Parks and Recreation Board Bruce Henderson (for David Kovach), Senior Advisory Board Jonathan Crozier, Poudre School District Tim Anderson, Fort Collins Bike Co-op (arrived late) ABSENT: Scott Mason, Land Conservation and Stewardship Board David Hansen, Colorado State University Todd Dangerfield, Downtown Development Authority PUBLIC PRESENT: Troy Rosen BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 2 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Dixon stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Troy Rosen stated he was present to observe. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – MARCH 2023 Allison made a motion, seconded by Owens, to approve the minutes of the March 2023 meeting as written. The motion was adopted unanimously. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Memo in Support of Bike Parks Committee members read a memo prepared by Krause and made some wording and grammar suggestions. Peyronnin made a motion, seconded by Crozier, to accept the memo contingent upon modifications and grammatical edits provided by Boiarsky. Owens stated he was unsure of the purpose of the Committee suggesting a plan. Henderson stated that while Parks and Recreation has plans for parks and trails, it does not have a plan for a bike park, which is what this memo suggests. Chair Dixon noted Owens asked if the recommendation was specific to the Hughes property at the March meeting and the group agreed that it should be less specific. He stated the group agreed that more of a focus on recreational bicycling should occur. Owens stated he did not read the memo to be bike park focused but to be more focused on the trail system. Committee members discussed wording changes to the memo. Buttke commented on the current lack of inventory in the Parks Department for structures for older children stating a bike park would fill that niche. Chair Dixon discussed the joint creation of a recreational bicycle plan between FC Moves and Parks. Richards discussed the need for operations and maintenance funding to be included. Peyronnin withdrew his earlier motion. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 3 Vice Chair Williams made a motion to defer consideration of the memo on recreational biking to next month’s meeting to allow for edits to be made regarding directing staff to create a plan between FC Moves and Parks, grammatical changes, and emphasizing specific funding sources, with the caveat that the Committee will receive a draft of the memo prior to the next meeting. Chair Dixon amended the motion to include clarification in terms of what is meant by a recreational biking plan, ensuring the inclusion of maintenance funds, and clarifying that the concern over the lack of recreational bicycling is independent of trail connectivity and transportation around town and is therefore implying the inclusion of bike parks or other recreational bike facilities. Owens seconded the motion. The motion was adopted with Anderson abstaining. Anderson expressed concern about the lack of language related to a bike park being both paved and unpaved. He stated the Bike Co-op is not highly dependent on paved courses and aims to improve the community through bicycling. Chair Dixon stated he believed that was heard at the last meeting and believed the reference to ‘other features’ in the memo captures closed courses. He asked Anderson if he would be more supportive of language that specifically called out paved and unpaved surfaces. Chair Dixon suggested amending the motion to include that recreational bicycle facilities include bike parks, soft surface trails, potentially paved trails and other features and closed courses so there is an implication not all features relate to mountain bikes. Anderson supported the amendment. Allison seconded the amended motion. The motion was adopted unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Safe Routes to School Program Update – Brian Kurotsuchi, SRTS Operations Manager Brian Kurotsuchi, Safe Routes to School Operations Manager, discussed the history of the Safe Routes to School program in Fort Collins and its funding. He provided information on the national history of the program as well. He stated the Fort Collins program provides education to 6,000-7,000 students ages K-12 each year with help from Bike Fort Collins. He outlined the programming provided to schools and showed a video of a bike rodeo event which helps to provide education and teach skills. He also noted each child’s bike is inspected and usually repaired on-site, if necessary, as part of the program. Kurotsuchi discussed the bike fleet and equipment trailers. Additionally, he BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 4 provided information on the safety study at Zach Elementary which resulted in the need for additional signalization and a refuge island. He noted a grant was received for the work. He thanked FoCo Fondo for providing funding for new middle and high school bikes. Kurotsuchi discussed the after-school bike clubs and stated adaptive inclusion has been a focus of the past year. Allison commented on the High Five Foundation which helps provide adaptive bikes at no charge. Kurotsuchi provided information on the Safe Routes to School website. Owens asked about the long-term success of the program in terms of increasing ridership. Kurotsuchi replied some schools are better than others at encouraging biking and walking to school. Geary replied Fort Collins is better than most cities around the country. Chair Dixon noted P.E. teachers send out surveys to students to help get numbers on walking and biking to school and those show an average 23% walk and ride rate across the district. He noted some school boundaries do not lend themselves to allowing for some of the student body to walk and ride. Owens asked if there is a possibility of a collaboration with Open Streets to close streets down in front of schools on certain days. Geary commented on the School Streets concept. Buttke asked if there are any planned infrastructure investments for trails with access points, and what types of equity considerations are made when those kinds of investments do occur. Kurotsuchi replied Safe Routes is always looking for last segment connection opportunities. Geary noted creating safe routes to school helps to create safe routes to everything. She discussed the equity component of the Active Modes Plan. Chair Dixon commented on equity work done with mobile home parks noting they frequently do not have adequate infrastructure for walking and biking to and from the properties. Crozier commented on the need for additional family engagement in the Safe Routes program. b. Adult Education and Outreach Update – Lauren Nagle, Active Modes Specialist Lauren Nagle, Active Modes Specialist, discussed the Bicycle Friendly Driver and Smart Cycling classes offered by the City. She also provided information on other community programs, including the Chica’s bike group and the Bike Fix It Bonanza which provides free bike repair. She noted targeted events are held in BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 5 communities to help address equity issues. Nagle discussed the Bicycle Ambassador Program and volunteer program that helps provide staffing for special events and projects and rides. She noted FC Bikes offers free helmets, bike lights, and reflective gear to any individual and she provided information on a CDOT grant that provided free SPIN passes for a year for 75 people in the community. Nagle discussed upcoming plans including changing the Bicycle Friendly Driver program to Fort Collins Friendly Driver, working on a trail etiquette outreach program, and revamping the Bicycle Ambassador Program to be inclusive of all modes. She announced upcoming community walks and rides and discussed how they are marketed. Henderson asked how much involvement Nagle has, or wants to have, in community rides that are not part of FC Moves. Nagle replied she would love to have involvement in other rides. Buttke asked if data is collected on the most common barriers encountered as part of the Bicycle Buddy program which is focused on individualized education. Nagle replied in the affirmative but noted the program does not have a great number of users because it is individualized. She stated barriers are typically weather, lack of shower facilities, and lack of confidence and abilities. Allison suggested there may be other opportunities to partner with area businesses. Nagle replied there are ‘borrow our Bicycle Buddies and Bicycle Ambassadors’ programs, but she acknowledged they could be better marketed. Geary commented on the Shift Your Ride program’s planned engagement directly with employers. c. ThinkBike Workshop Results – Cortney Geary, Active Modes Manager Cortney Geary, Active Modes Manager, reported on last week’s ThinkBike workshop which included experts visiting from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, including two consultants from Dutch firms, and a guest from the Federal Highway Administration. She outlined the Dutch principles around network design, including ensuring distributor roadways, or arterials in Fort Collins, are designed such that the speed limit is no greater than 30 miles per hour. She discussed various aspects and types of Dutch infrastructure and stated the group screened the film Together We Cycle which covered the history of cycling in the Netherlands. Chair Dixon commented on the variety of attendees from various City departments. Buttke stated infrastructure and cost will be the main barriers and asked about others and how broader, more ambitious shifts could be supported. Geary BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 6 commented on a discussion around having a planted median with roadways sloping toward it which would help with stormwater and could also be a place for snow in the winters thereby keeping bike lanes clear. Crozier asked if there are any cities in the United States that are making efforts to model themselves after Amsterdam. Geary replied there are a lot of cities doing progressive road diet projects and redesigns. Buttke asked if there were any discussions regarding differences in vehicle sizes. Geary replied in the affirmative and noted Amsterdam has much smaller vehicles and fire trucks. Boiarsky commented on the need to be mindful about what is unique about Fort Collins and the American driving culture. Geary concurred and stated it is important the community understands the benefits of these types of shifts. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Anderson commented on building community through bicycling. Vice Chair Williams discussed a CSU Sustainability Research Laboratory study regarding carbon output by different types of transportation. Crozier announced National Bike and Walk to School Day is Wednesday, May 3rd. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Transportation Board Report Owens reported the Transportation Board received a presentation on sustainable funding from Ginny Sawyer. b. Staff Liaison Report • Grants Update Geary stated staff submitted for three CDOT grants, one to complete the Laporte corridor project from Fishback to Sunset, one to add onto an existing project on Taft Hill to incorporate Active Modes Plan improvements, and one for a mobility hub plan and test implementation. • 2023 Bike Maps Geary announced the new bike maps are out. • Open Streets Geary stated the next Open Streets event will be June 4th on Landings and Boardwalk. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 4 /2 4 /2023 – MINUTES Page 7 Geary announced the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) conference will be held in May in Denver. Nagle stated Council has created an ad hoc Boards and Commissions committee and the formation of an Active Modes Advisory Committee will be discussed after that process is complete. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:02 PM by unanimous consent.