John Boyle
Fri, 06 Feb 2004 07:02:16 -0800
SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA BICYCLE ISSUES TASK FORCE
Meeting Minutes of October 23, 2003
The quarterly meeting of the Task Force was held at the PENNDOT District 6-0
Office, King-of Prussia. An agenda and list of attendees are attached.
After introductions, the minutes were accepted as written. During today’s
meeting, the following topics were discussed.
Updates from Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Program, PENNDOT Central
Office, Harrisburg (Dave Bachman and Patti Marshall)
1. B/P Master Plan Update meetings. The initial meeting was held last
Saturday,
October 18th at the offices of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning
Commission (DVRPC) and was attended by 25 people. Discussion groups
centered on bicycle transportation, pedestrian transportation, and quality
of life issues. Dozens of suggestions for modifications to the existing
plan were provided during the 4-hour meeting. Additional meetings are
planned for Allentown, Altoona, and Pittsburgh in the late winter and spring
of 2004.
2. PENNDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Facilities Checklist Training. The
initial
training session was held last Thursday, October 16, in Clearfield, for
Districts 2-0 and 9-0. Approximately 35 District personnel, local planners,
and others attended. Seven additional sessions are planned: 6 more in the
districts and 1 at the Traffic Engineering and Safety Conference in State
College in December.
3. Annual Meeting of the PENNDOT District Bicycle/Pedestrian
Coordinators, October 14-15, 2003. Important topics of discussion at the
meeting included: truncated domes detectable warnings at curb cuts, bike/bus
intermodal connections, the personal health implications of land use and
non-motorized transportation, District B/P Coordinators time spent on
bike/ped, and the success of the recent 4th Annual District 4-0 Trails
Symposium organized by Dick Cochrane.
4. New Turnback Agreement. On September 24, 2003, PENNDOT’s Office of
Chief Counsel issued a revised standard legal agreement for the “turnback”
process by which PENNDOT legally transfers ownership of a state road segment
to a municipality. New language in the agreement protects bike route signs,
like BicyclePA, and prevents them from being removed by the municipality
after the turnback is complete.
5. The Education and Enforcement Task Force (EETF) police training
video, now under development by PENNDOT contractors and funded with Federal
Enhancement funds, has been canceled by the administration. That type of
educational tool is unacceptable unless it can produce measurable,
short-term benefits. The EETF is now looking to re-direct the funds to
projects that meet the administration objectives.
6. FHWA Status Review Recommendations – Implementation Effort. PENNDOT
has assembled an implementation team and will convene a meeting shortly to
begin Phase 2 of this effort. The goal is to bring PENNDOT into greater
compliance with the bike/ped goals of TEA-21.
Report of the PENNDOT 6-0 Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator (Matt Bochanski)
1. Matt has integrated the new Turnback agreement into Department
awareness and operations.
2. A gap in BicyclePA Route S in Montgomeryville (at routes 309 and
363) inadvertently caused by a prior turnback has been corrected by some
judicious re-routing to nearby roads. A second correction to Route S was
made by moving the route from Daisy Point Road to Traffic Routes 23 and 100.
These minor changes were concluded to eliminate difficult turns or traffic
traverses for bicyclists.
3. The City of Philadelphia has agreed to cooperate with PENNDOT on the
installation of BicyclePA Route E signs, which will be done in the spring or
early summer of 2004.
4. Bike/Ped Facilities Checklist Training will be conducted in District
6-0 on January 6, 2004. In addition to PENNDOT, local planning and other
personnel, Matt will compile a list of consultants to invite.
5. Matt has been in contact with FHWA bike/ped safety engineer Mr.
Leverson Boodlal in Washington and has received a lot of assistance from
him. Matt recommends him as a resource. Mr. Boodal’s contact information:
telephone number (202) 366-8044, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6. Matt has been working cooperatively with Ms. Julia Bell of the
National Park Service on the establishment of the Fort Mifflin/Tinicum
Trail, slated to become a part of the East Coast Greenway upon completion.
7. With cooperation from the 6-0 Traffic Unit, Matt successfully
removed some misleading No Bicycles (R5-6) signs at a bridge on the
Bridgetown Pike in Bridgetown. The intent of the signs was to direct
cyclists to a local trail that bypasses the bridge. However, the re-routing
made little sense and was not utilized by through cyclists.
8. District 6-0 has a contract with TPD/McMahon of Pottstown for
edgeline striping on re-surfacing jobs. The point is to maintain lateral
support of the road edge by moving the edge stripe in a short distance to
keep the right side wheels of motor vehicles away from the pavement edge.
There was some question as to the purpose of the contract. Matt clarified
that it is not a bikelane installation contract, but an edgeline re-striping
effort.
Follow-up questions/comments for Matt:
- Ray Sachs noted that East Bradford Township is asking for
Transportation Enhancements funds for a bikepath on the east side of Rt.
322.
- Steve Trobovic noted there are some missing planks on the walkway
across the Rt. 322 bridge at Valley Forge. Matt said he will check into it.
- Ken Edmonds reported there are numerous faded or disappeared
crosswalks where the Delaware Canal route crosses roads. These need to be
restriped for safety reasons. Ken will e-mail Matt with the locations.
- Arnold Roseman offered that trails need to be better maintained in
the Philadelphia area. They need more frequent toilet facilities, planking
on bridges need to be better maintained and trails need better overall
maintenance.
Report on Activities of the Montgomery County Planning Commission (John
Wood, presented by John Madera)
1. Montco will conduct the official opening of the Perkiomen Trail,
Oaks to
Greenlane section, on Saturday, November 22nd.
2. Several other trail projects are in the works, including the
Wissahickon and
Liberty Valley Trails.
3. The new bike bridge over the Schuylkill Bridge at King-of Prussia is
now
open.
Other County Updates
1. Chester County (Ray Sachs)
- Ray is concerned about the rate of progress on trail construction.
Local planning issues continually require moving the route and it has
become a “moving target.”
- Letters of Interest for the Schuylkill River Trail, Cromby to the
Berks County Line Section, were due in by October 23rd.
2. Delaware County (Justin Dula)
- Delco is moving along on its County b/p plan.
- The P & W trail contract will be let in January 2004
- Tinicum Township has approached him about developing a trail
system
Follow-up Question: Steve Trobovic inquired about the pavement surface of
the Perkiomen Trail. John Boyle responded that it will be paved near
Schwenksville and Collegeville Boroughs, but will be crushed stone
elsewhere.
Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (John Boyle)
John made a detailed presentation entitled “Bicycling by the
Numbers,” a quantitative approach to bicycling in the Greater Philadelphia
area (see www.bicyclecoalition.org/current.html for additional data). John
provided several data items:
1. Bicyclists and pedestrians make up 13.1% of highway fatalities in PA
2. 0.3% of Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds were spent on
bicycle/pedestrian transportation.
3. 0% of safety set aside funds were spent on b/p
4. There are 675,000 bicyclists in the 5 counties of District 6-0
5. Cycling rates in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties are up while
they are trending downward in Delaware, Chester, and Bucks Counties.
6. SEPTA reports 43 cyclists per day on their system, but the count is
thought to be underreported.
7. LANTA (Lehigh Valley) reports 44 cyclists per day.
8. NJ Transit reports at least 2000 cyclists per day, a figure also
thought to be underreported.
9. A web cam count on a single route in Ocean City, NJ produced a
1-hour count of 1330 on a Saturday in July.
10. Bicycle crashes in Philadelphia are up in recent years, but bicycle
usage is way up so the rate has dropped significantly.
11. THERE IS A STRONG NEED FOR INDEPENDENT BICYCLE USAGE RATE COUNTS.
Regional Bicycle Programs at DVRPC (John Madera)
1. John provided a 10-page handout on the status of bike/ped and
related projects in the DVRPC/District 6-0 area. Please contact John for a
copy of the list.
2. The Share the Road Campaign can boast of two recent achievements: a)
a website has been developed www.share-the-road.org, and b) a 10-hour road
cycling course has been developed. The class, consisting of both classroom
and road instruction, is similar to the League of American Bicyclists Road I
course. Interestingly, all registrants for the first 2 sessions have been
women. Instructors for the courses are SEPABITF regular Ed Hein in
Doylestown and various BCGP members in Philadelphia.
3. The DVRPC Unified Planning and Work Program (UPWP) for 2005 is to be
voted on today. Projects with good prospects are: a) traffic calming case
studies, b) the Gloucester County Trail Network, and 3) Access Management
Study on Pennsylvania Highways. Proposals with lesser chances are: 1) a
bike travel survey, and 2) a scenic byways survey.
4. A Tinicum/Ft. Mifflin Trail Stakeholders meeting will be held on
November 6, 2003. Key discussion topics will be: a) providing an “identity”
to the project and 2) developing a system of signing for trail users.
5. The PA TPK/I-95 Final Environmental Impact Statement. The comment
period is now over. DVRPC wrote a comment letter in support of bike/ped
access on the proposed new turnpike bridge.
6. The Scudders Falls visit with the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge
Commission was cancelled by the DRJTBC. They are not interested in
resolving the access issues raised by DVRPC and local cyclists. John will
try again at a later date.
7. John proposed a webpage for the SEPABITF.
Old/New Business
1. Fran Rubert of DCNR noted that the deadline for the Community
Conservation Partnership Program (C2P2) grants was last week. About
100 applications were expected, including the K & T Rail Trail, the
rail-
trail feasibility study of the Philadelphia Planning Commission, and
the
Lansdowne Comp Plan.
2. Ray Sachs of Chester County reported that Campbell Thomas is doing
feasibility studies of a proposed trail along French Creek and a
proposed
Red Clay Trail segment in Kennett Square.
FUTURE MEETING DATES
The Task Force established the following slate of meeting dates for calendar
2004:
February 5th, Bourse Building, Philadelphia, 4:00 - 6:00 PM. (Date changed
from
January 29th)
April 29th, SEPTA Offices, 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia, 9:00 – 11:00
AM.
July 22nd, District 6-0 Offices, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
October 28th, Bourse Building, Philadelphia, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Southeast PA Bicycle Issues Task Force
Attendance List for October 23, 2003 Meeting
Name Organization Contacts
John Burkhardt The RBA Group 717-697-0100;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Joe Stafford Bicycle Access Council 717-417-1299;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Boyle Bicycle Coalition of GP 215-BICYCLE;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fran Rubert DCNR
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Matt Schell Grtr Valley Forge TMA 610-354-8899;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bill Ruhling URS/Montco 610-337-3666;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ray Sachs Chesc Co Plng Comm 610-344-6285;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Matt Bochanski PENNDOT 6-0 610-205-6840;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Madera DVRPC 215-238-2854;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Steve Trobovic Bike Club of Phila 610-687-9229;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ken Edmonds East Coast Greenway 215-721-6543; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Pierre Ravacon Baker Engineering 215-442-5315;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Arnold Roseman Bike Club of Phila 610-640-4529;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brandywine B. C.
Justin Dula Del Co Planning Dept 610-891-5219;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Patti Marshall PENNDOT C.O. 717-705-1444;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dave Bachman PENNDOT C.O. 717-783-8444;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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