Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Virtual Meeting December 2, 2021 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Meeting Participants Amanda Poncy Kyle Rodland Carl Schwarz Peter Krebs Nikolai Braun Lena Seville Stephen Bach Kevin Cox Peter Ohlms Navarre Bartz Action Items - Individual members of BPAC are encouraged to write letters to the Planning Commission in support of bicycle and pedestrian funding in CIP prior to Dec. 14 meeting o Peter Krebs to develop talking points - Carl to contact Latoya from Brick and Story - Amanda to confirm Heat Mapping/Climate Action Plan as future agenda topic Meeting Agenda Strategic Priorities Prior to the meeting, Amanda sent a survey to everyone on the BPAC email list to assess committee priorities for 2022. The survey included priority programs listed in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, in addition to items that were requested by committee members. Below is the full list that was considered: Priorities identified by BPAC Members - Diversity and Inclusion - Working collaboratively with UVA to establish safe and comfortable bike/walk connections - Identifying funding sources to avoid missed opportunities / enable enhancements at opportune times (example: when a curb ramp is being upgraded, constructing a curb extension instead that will enhance ped safety rather than simply meeting minimum ADA requirements and having to tear it up later to enhance safety) - Sidewalk closures - Vision Zero (never officially a topic, but interest from Mobility Summit Alliance) o Street level educational/encouragement o Photo Enforcement o Quick Builds o Reduced speed limits per state policy Priorities from Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan - Develop and approve bicycle parking guidelines - Incorporate maintenance of on-street bicycle facilities into routine street maintenance - Partner with Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to support the Ride Share program - Launch a traffic safety media campaign - Recruit volunteers to expand the active transportation count program and share collected data - Approve a snow removal policy that incorporates bicycle and pedestrian facilities - Develop a trails maintenance and improvement schedule based on trail typologies - Create bicycle maps and distribute to the public – Maps updated in 2019 - Encourage local businesses to become “Bicycle Friendly”- Bicycle Advantage Program developed. - Dedicate more funds in the City’s Capital Improvement Program specifically for bicycle and pedestrian projects Ongoing advocacy for CIP. No funds were allocated to Bicycle Infrastructure in FY21. FY22?? - Encourage local businesses and neighborhoods to participate in a car-diet challenge The results of the survey can be found at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-JVF52N2C9/ The top 5 priorities were: 1. Identifying funding sources to avoid missed opportunities / enable enhancements at opportune times 2. Develop a Vision Zero Plan/Policy (could include street level educational/encouragement, Photo Enforcement, Quick Builds, Reduced speed limits per state policy) 3. Zoning changes to support sidewalk construction 4. City’s Capital Improvement Program specifically for bicycle and pedestrian projects 5. Diversity and Inclusion It was agreed that this list simply represents a starting point for conversation and it will be finalized over time. Below is a summary of the discussion surrounding these items: CIP – There was a PC work session and public hearing is coming up (12/14/2021). It would be good for people to contact PC prior to the meeting. Austerity is looking like the new normal for future bike/ped funding. This year sidewalk funding is 0. Future years is $100k. Compared to cost of Stribling sidewalk, this really isn’t a workable budget. We shouldn’t focus on what should be removed to pay for bike/ped. That’s not our job. Just argue why bike/ped is important. Public hearing on Tuesday the 14th. PC will set its recommendation to Council. The Proposed CIP (with the unfunded list) is in the PC meeting packet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gKRQANAIGWlw8ZMqRG_a0OqFRMxfZTAB/view?usp=sharing The Piedmont Mobility Alliance has been working on an advocacy handbook. Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ni6B66aS- WWLwOTJ2eQI3RIadBN9tvMWbTGaoaslxqk/edit?usp=sharing Zoning Changes to Support Sidewalk – Livable Cville would be interested in this topic, as well. Need to read code first and develop some proposed revisions. Diversity and Inclusion – Lena explained that this topic covers two main ideas (1) Outreach to those who don’t know we’re there. (2) looking at committee makeup and how we do things (i.e. once people get here, will we be a good fit?) Lena suggested having a meeting about how we do things to make people feel more welcome. There was additional discussion about how to handle email communications/discussions. Some members of the committee felt like email discussions between meetings are helpful. Others felt like emails were not inclusive. There was no consensus on this topic. . Kevin: The discussions are too broad and do not focus enough on the roll of the committee. Would like to see us work hard to get a few things done. Way to get participation is to have a committee that functions well and gets things done. Not engaging. Takes too long to get things done. Stephen Bach - The city is a bureaucracy. There are many factors that go into when/how projects get done. Things take forever. It requires people to show up for many years. Peter K. - We are an advisory committee. Advice is the product of BPAC. How do we measure how much product we generate? Is there a metric? Are there deadlines? Carl - Consider a BPAC Annual report - what advice was made/accepted/implemented? Craft a work plan for 3 months, 1 year, etc. Present to City Council. Help us vet what we’re doing, reflect on what we’re doing. Next year we tell them how we did and propose what we’re doing next. Navarre - Come up with a few things that could happen in the short term to keep people engaged. Quick builds for instance. Andy Orban proposed bike-protected bike lanes on West Main. This could be a short term thing to test. Other updates: The Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator position has not yet been posted. There is interest in hiring a transportation planner. It’s unclear if that’s addition to or replacement for bike/ped coordinator. The city has hired an ADA Coordinator who is trained and certified in Americans with Disabilities Act. He has been great so far and is getting things done. The ADA committee should be meeting again soon and with the update to the ADA Transition Plan, this is a good opportunity to coordinate. Need to add bike rack installations to accomplishments. This year, 6 businesses have requested bike racks, which have been installed. Look at accomplishments. Has BPAC influenced that or was it just in the plan? Kevin - requested info from Police on how they’re enforcing traffic laws. Will share once that information is received. Navarre - Make it easy for people to find their way onto the BPAC listserv. Kevin - asked about sidewalk fund - who manages, how spent, etc. Will share with committee. Amanda - Public work manages the sidewalk fund. There is about $700k currently in fund. A lot is committed already to projects on bike/ped master plan priority list. $3.8k contributed for Market/Fairway project. There is a formula for calculating developer contributions to the sidewalk fund. Intended to cover the cost, but it should be looked at whether that is a realistic number. Kevin thinks the decision to pay into fund should be made by city and not developer. Chat: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B7VZVX5 From Nikolai Braun to Everyone 05:00 PM Nikolai.braun@gmail.com From City Zoom8 to Everyone 05:03 PM https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B7VZVX5 From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 05:13 PM That top 5 is not the same as my top 5, but I would be very comfortable with them. From Peter Ohlms to Everyone 05:16 PM Motorists on the committee [gasp it would be like having non-drivers on the parking committee] From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 05:17 PM Vision zero was in my top 5 because it combines problem solving with good social science. So for example, the vision zero cities have thought a lot about nonconfrontational enforcement so we don't have to act like we're the first people to think about it. From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 05:34 PM The Proposed CIP (with that unfunded list) is in the PC meeting packet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gKRQANAIGWlw8ZMqRG_a0OqFRMxfZTAB/view?usp=sharing The Mobility Alliance has been working on an advocacy handbook. Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ni6B66aS- WWLwOTJ2eQI3RIadBN9tvMWbTGaoaslxqk/edit?usp=sharing From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 06:00 PM People get excited about actual stuff happening. From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 06:09 PM Kevin's point is really important. When I feel like I've missed important discussion, and god knows that happens a lot, I try to ask for a recap and folks are generally glad to bring me up to speed. From Nikolai Braun to Everyone 06:10 PM sorry team, gotta run! From Navarre (he, they) to Everyone 06:11 PM How do local NGOs handle things? Since we’re quasi-governmental, I think we shouldn’t constrain ourselves to just how other committees or even BPAC have always done things? From Peter Ohlms to Everyone 06:14 PM almost like subcommittees … subcommittees working over email. From Peter Krebs (Piedmont Environmental Council) to Everyone 06:20 PM Amanda: Happy Trails.....🎵 ….to you! 🎸...until we meet again!!! Amanda is going to be HAUNTING these meetings! She'll be shaking the Market Street door yelling to be let in! From Peter Ohlms to Everyone 06:36 PM sidewalk. Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the public meeting may call the ADA Coordinator at (434) 970-3182 or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City of Charlottesville requests that you provide a 48 hour notice so that proper arrangements may be made.