Meeting Minutes

Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition
117 North Division Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734/487-9058
www.wbwc.org

WBWC Meeting 2/2/06

Meeting came to order at 7:05

Kris Talley conducted the meeting.

Board members Kris Talley, Ken Clark, Tim Athan, Ana Iacob, Erica Briggs,
Paul Alman were present.

1. Minutes were approved.

2. Kris reported that the treasurer reported that our fund balance is
$897.98. There were a number of membership checks that Ken Clark agreed to
hold until the Treasurer, Ana Iacob could take possession of them.

3. New member/attendee intros. Mark Erzen, AABTS President - Has been
president of AABTS for the past two years. He noted that while WBWC is
more directed toward advocacy and transportation, the AABTS is primarily
oriented toward recreational riding. Two things the AABTS is working on
that WBWC may b einterested in are Ride of Silence and Share the Road
signs throughout the area.

Nelson ? - A grad student at UM who walks, bikes, and takes transit around
Ann Arbor and would like to be involved.

Liz Calhoun - a member of AABTS. She is a long-time volunteer for Hell-of
-A-Ride. She is branching out into running and walking as well as biking.
She saw a discussion of "Volksmarching"

Pete Heinz - Another LCI who is a member of AABTS.

4. Actions/News

a. Share the Road signs & AABTS collaboration (Erzen) - Many years ago Lu
Cheney and others worked to get "Share the Road" signs on some roads in
the County. After the death of Sharon ??, a number of club members decided
that it would be a good idea to get more share the road signs on Cavanah
Lake Road in this area. He is working with a contact at the Washtenaw
County Road Commission. E Briggs mentioned that he should also contact Eli
Cooper at the city of Ann Arbor. A few members also mentioned the Manual
of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the AASHTO Guide for the
Development of Bicycle Facilities as sources for sign standards. We also
talked about putting signage in various plans and how to secure funding.

b. Sidewalk Bike Route Signs (Briggs, Talley) - Nelson apparently spoke
with Eli Cooper about removing these signs. Mr. Cooper pointed out that
these plans are slated for removal at some point, but there are funding
problems and some concerns about removing them in some places, as there is
a feeling that this may make some novice cyclists think they have to use
the road. We felt that it is a strange point of view, since cyclists can
see for themselves that the sidewalk is there, so a sign doesn't serve any
significant purpose. Erica discussed this with Mr. Cooper earlier today.
She feels that we should develop a statement that recognizes that there
are different levels of cyclist and that at some of the locations the
signs should be removed and in other locations the signs should be changed
to "Share the Road" signs.

c. Washtenaw Non-motorized path (Talley, Alman) - A meeting was held this
past week about this path. As expected, there was significant opposition
from the neighbors. We discussed this for quite a while. We generally
agreed that this path as proposed may be detrimental to cyclists, and at
best isn't of much benefit to cyclists. However, we also agreed that this
would be a good idea for pedestrians. In the end, we agreed to draft a
position letter to present to the City later.

d. SEMCOG Rail Plans (Schwende) - SEMCOG has been looking for a number of
years at the idea of running trains or bus routes between Ann Arbor and
Detroit, possibly with a stop at Metro airport. Frank pointed out that we
should be involved to help make sure that anything that is done
accomodates bicycles either on the rail cars or at least at the stations.
Frank offered to draft a position letter.

e. Safe Routes to School/Project Health Schools/Walking School Bus
(Talley) - Kris gave a quick update.

f. Huron River Drive paving and closing (Alman) - Paul has been continuing
discussions with other cyclists and with jurisdictions in the area.

g. "Bicycling for Transportation in Washtenaw County" site/wiki (Clark) -
No updates this month.

5. 2006 Curb Your Car Month

- WBWC sponsorship of 5/17/2006 Ride of Silence (Alman) - M Erzen had an
update on this. The AABTS first heard about this in 2004. Some members did
a ride in 04 for this. In 2005 there was a ride held in Westland with
several hundred riders.

6. Other Upcoming Events

a. Feb 13th Grove Road hearing. WBWC invited by WCRC, need at least one
rep.

b. Feb 7th Platt road meeting. Need WBWC representation.

c. WCC Earth Day, Thursday, April 13 from 9a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

7. WBWC General Business

A. Membership report/outreach -

i. Since Mark was at the meeting, Kris mentioned the idea of adding a
checkbox for people joining one organization to check to either join the
other group or be sent information about the other group. Mark will take
this idea to the AABTS board.

ii. Renew current bike shops and get new ones - Paul contacted the various
shops, which said they would become members, but none of them have. He
will contact them individually again.

iii. Eliminate membership fee for businesses? - We generally agreed that
this was a good idea.

B. Newsletter - deadline is 2/10 (Krzewinski)

C. Board retreat

8. Reports from other groups/events

a. Washtenaw Public Health (Sheldon) - Bike racks are going in in Depot
Town and in Chelsea. There were also a significant number of people at the
recent "Recreation Round Table" at EMU in Ypsilanti. There was a survey of
what people would like more of at the Round Table, the highest response
was "trails", but it wasn't clear what kind of trails, for whom, and
where.

b. UM Nonmotorized Transportation Committee (Talley) - There was a meeting
earlier today of this group. The University is looking into creating a
Zipcar program in Ann Arbor, supposedly by this fall. They are looking at
a program in Minnesota that did the same thing. Erica suggested the idea
of a central location on campus for people to bring their bikes to work on
them and clean them. Surprisingly, the UM staff there seemed quite
interested in this idea. They were also are interested in working with
their health community to encourage active transportation.

c. Friends of AA Greenway (Mitchell) -

d. Washtenaw Area Teens of Tomorrow -- Youth Mobility (Athan) -

e. GetDowntown program (Briggs) - Erica was in Boulder this past week and
passed around pictures of some of the great things she saw there. On the
18th a bike maintenance/repair clinic will be held from 2-4pm at Great
Lakes. 7th 6-8pm meeting for Curb Your Car Month. Tonight at 11pm she will
be meeting with Officer Vonk of the AAPD to discuss ideas for pedestrian
and bicycle enforcement things the City could start during Curb Your Car
Month. Erica also pointed out that in San Francisco the bike community
gives candy and cookies to

f. AA Environmental Commission Transportation Committee (Clark) - Ken will
be stepping down from the Commission in March, so if anyone is interested
in being on the Commission, this would be a good time to put in an
application..

g. AA Energy Commission (Athan) -

h. League of Michigan Bicyclists (Clark) - New ED Rich Moeller would like
to meet various bicycling groups in the next month or two.

i. AABTS Safety Committee (Alman) -

j. Non-motorized Transportation Planning Committee (Hritz) -

k. Parks and Recreation (Krzewinski) -

l. Washtenaw County Non-motorized Steering Committee (Talley) -

9. Adjourned 9:22pm - Next meeting: March 2, 2006