2002 Past Massachusetts Bicycle Meetings

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Monday, January 7, 7:00 pm, Natick Morse Institute Library Community Room (lower level, beyond elevator).

Proposed schedule:

7:00 pm Minutes

7:10 pm Bicycle and Pedestrian Issues (non-CRT related)

7:40 pm Cochituate Rail Trail-related topics

8:10 pm Public Comment

For further information, e-mail Dick Miller.

Framingham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Tuesday January 8, 7:30 PM, Lower Nevins Conference Room 2

Agenda:

7:30 PM: Review December meeting minutes and various correspondence.

7:45 PM: Selection of officers for 2002 (Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary)

8:00 PM: Public comment.

8:15 PM: Work session to develop content for the FBPAC World Wide Web site, http://www.ma.ultranet.com/~fbpac.

For further information, e-mail fbpac@ma.ultranet.com.

Belmont's Bikeway: Where is it Going?

Monday, February 4, 7:30pm, Bramhall Hall, All Saints Church, Corner of Common & Clark St., Belmont

> Don Becker, Co-chair of the Belmont's Bikeway Planning Committee, will discuss the future of the Belmont section of the Wayside Rail Trail, display alternative routes, and outline steps for bringing the trail to reality. There will also be a discussion of bicycle safety throughout the town of Belmont.

Sponsored by Friends of Belmont Citizens Forum

Draft MPO Public Involvement Program

Tuesday, February 5 - Wednesday, February 13, all over metro Boston

Click here for a schedule of times and locations.

Neponset River Greenway Council

Wednesday, February 6, 7:00 pm, Hyde Park Police Station, 1249 Hyde Park Ave .

Among other things, Doug Mink will show slides of bikepaths he encountered throughout North America in 2001, pointing out features relevant to the design of the Neponset Trail.

Belmont Bikeway Planning Committee

Tuesday, February 26, 7:30 pm, Belmont Town Hall, Concord Ave, Belmont

Representatives from Somerville will be giving a presentation about the proposed Somerville Community Path. Representatives from Belmont will be giving a presentation about the proposed Belmont Bikeway. These two projects will be part of a critical east-west link in the regional network of bikepaths.

For more information, contact Don Becker at (617) 484-8432

Boston Bicycle Advisory Committee

Wednesday, March 20, 5:30 to 7:30 pm, Boston City Hall, Rm. 721 Enter from Congress St.

Agenda

1. BikeWeek Event Planning
   Hills of Boston ride instead of Long Island Ride :-<
   Tasks
2. Draft Bicycle Parking Requirements
   See files newly uploaded to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bbac/files/ .
3. New Business

Assabet River Rail Trail

Wednesday, March 20, 7:00 pm, Marlborough City Hall in the Mayor's Meeting Room on the top floor.

Updates to the ARRT brochure, Acton Earth Day, and planning for the Nashua River Rail Trail ride tentatively set for June are on the agenda.

Framingham Cochituate Rail Trail Committee

Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 pm, Lower Nevins Conference Room 2, Memorial Building, Framingham

Agenda

7:00 pm - Review and approve February minutes.

7:15 pm - Review status of trail development

* Access: MBTA/MTA (Ginger Esty requested access for MBTA section for 6/1)

* Bridges

* Intersections - recommendation from HTSD in response to Framingham Traffic and Roadway Safety Comm. request(Old Connecticut Path, School St, driveways)

* Bollards ASAP to stop dumping

8:00 pm - Review plans for upcoming events

* T-shirts (will by ready for Friends of Saxonville annual meeting)

* "From Rails to Trails in Saxonville", main event at Friends of Saxonville Annual Meeting

* Oaks Neighborhood Green-up Day (Dan)

* Bike Week 2002 - trail work days?

* Discover Saxonville (Mark, Charlene)

* Library Displays (Main Framingham Library, McAuliffe Branch, coordinate with Natick)

* Plan on regular monthly trail work days (or tours) for July, August, September, October?

8:30 pm - Public comment

8:45 pm - Adjourn

The History of the Mass. Central Railroad

Monday, April 1, 7:00 pm at the Rutland Public Library, Route 122A at Rutland Center, just west of Route 56 North.

Rick Conard, who helped edit and produce the book, The Central Mass. will talk about this line which ran from Boston to Northhampton. The Wayside Trail is proposed for the section from Belmont to Berlin. Other sections are already trails, under construction, or in planning stage.

This talk is free and open to the public. The talk is sponsored by Wachusett Greenways and will preceed its annual meeting.

Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee

Monday, April 1, 7:30-9:00pm, Arlington Town Hall, Annex Building, 1st-floor conference room. (Enter from Academy Street side - toward rear of building.)

Refreshments available at 7:15pm, compliments of Stephan Miller.

Our AGENDA will feature the following topics:

• Introductions of new folks.
• Announcement of newly appointed and reappointed ABAC executive committee (i.e., voting) members. We will vote on ABAC officers.
• Review ABAC liaisons with other town committees and departments.
• Status on bike-parking warrant article for 2002 Town Meeting.
• Status on Robbins Library's procurement of bicycle-related resources with ABAC's Cutler West Foundation grant money.
• Discuss process for updating content on ABAC website.
• Status on new Minuteman Bikeway brochure.
• Updates/discussion on Minuteman Bikeway maintenance/enhancements.
• Updates from Transportation Advisory Committee (Scott Smith, liaison), including recent public hearing in East Arlington on Mass Ave improvements Check out TAC's website at http://www.tac.arlington.ma.us.
• Brief planning discussion for BIKE-Arlington Tour, scheduled for Sunday morning, May 5 (Jack Johnson, organizer).
• FEATURED TOPIC: Review options for regional bikeway connections, esp. from east end of Minuteman Bikeway (with guest Bryce Nesbitt).

New and occasional participants are always welcome to attend.

Somerville Community Path Outreach Meetings

Saturday, April 6, 3:00-4:30 pm, Somerville Library (Main Branch), 79 Highland Ave, Somerville

Sunday, April 21, 3:00-4:30 pm, Brickbottom Artist Building, 1 Fitchburg St C-117, Somerville

The Friends of the Community Path invite you to a short presentation about the proposed Community Path extension with Refreshments and Discussion!

If you cannot attend and would like to be notified of future presentations, please contact us: friendspath@yahoo.com or call Joel Bennett 617-776-7769.

Framingham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Tuesday April 9, 7:30 PM, Lower Nevins Conference Room 1

Agenda

7:30 PM Review March meeting minutes and various correspondence.

7:45 PM Work session to prepare for the Meet the Trail event on May 13

• Finalize plans for hosting the public information sessions to introduce the community to the proposed Trail on Monday May 13 which is during Bike Week. A 4:00 PM outdoor site inspection will be held at Hemenway School. An indoor session will be held at 6:00 featuring Craig Della Penna of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
  Discuss publicity for the Trail events.

  Review designs for announcement flyer, press release, map, and other media.

  Decide what type of refreshments to provide.

8:45 PM Public comment

Bedford Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway Annual Meeting

Wednesday, April 10, 7:30pm, Bedford Town Center, 12 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA

Short business meeting, followed by speaker, Tim Baldwin, Executive Director, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike), followed by question and answer period.

New England Greenway Symposium

Saturday, April 27, 2002, UMass-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts

more info at http://www.umass.edu/greenways

Greenough Boulevard Planning Meeting

Saturday April 27 from 10-2 in Watertown

This section of the Charles River Bikepath needs work; come and help figure out how to fix it, then go to Earth Day on the Esplanade.

Details will be at http://www.charlesriverconservancy.org.

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Monday, May 6, 7:00 pm, Natick Police Headquarters, 20 East Central St. Conference Room (first floor, corner toward Town Hall).

Highlights from proposed agenda, only:

• We will start in the NATICK SELECTMEN'S MEETING, 7PM, to hear their proclamation for Massachusetts Bike Week 2002 (May 11th-19th).
• We will convene our own NBPAC meeting, perhaps 7:20PM (see above), and will have a visitor tonight: Sarkis Sarkisian, Natick's Director of Community Development, will present the current reconstruction plans for Rte. 135 through Natick. Construction is likely to begin THIS FALL. Some of us had a preliminary meeting with Sarki on April 19th; this is your chance to catch up. OUT OF TOWN USERS ARE SPECIFICALLY INVITED. The plans also are available for inspection at the Natick Community Development Office, and Dick Miller just received a separate set of these plans for NBPAC use.
• We'll have a very good report on an April 26th MassPike site visit to its Cochituate Rail Trail ROW.
• We'll complete our plans for Mass Bike Week activities.
• We expect to return to the Selectmen's meeting about 9PM, to present a report on NBPAC activities 2001-2002.

For more information, contact the chairman, Dick Miller.

Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee (ABAC)

Monday, May 6, 7:30-9:30pm, Arlington Town Hall, Annex Building, 1st-floor c onference room

(Enter from Academy Street side - toward rear of building.)

Refreshments available at 7:15pm, compliments of Christopher Tonkin.

Our AGENDA will feature the following topics:

• Introductions of new folks.
• Approval of last month's minutes.
• Updates on recent community meetings attended and recent events, including this year's BIKE-Arlington Tour (scheduled for this coming Sunday morning, see below for details).
• Updates on current and future projects.
• Updates from Transportation Advisory Committee (Scott Smith, liaison).
• Open forum for general discussion.

New and occasional participants are always welcome to attend.

Assabet River Rail Trail Meeting

Thursday, May 23, 7:00 pm Acton Library

We will have an update on the Nashua River Rail Trail bike ride planned for June 8.

Reminder: the annual ARRT meeting is in June. We will be choosing the date this Thursday. In addition to electing of officers and board members, this is a good opportunity to speak up for the best time for monthly meetings.

Historic Parkways Initiative Memorial Drive Demonstration Project Public Meeting #2

Wednesday, June 26, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, McCormick House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 320 Memorial Drive, Cambridge (entrance on Amherst St.)

Phase 1: Final Concept

Phase 2: Overview of Existing Conditions

Read relevant portions of the Charles River Masterplan before going to the meeting.

Natick Bicycle and Pedistrian Advisory Committee

Monday, July 8, Natick Police Dept. Conference Room

MDC Alewife Reservation Master Plan Community Meeting #2

Tuesday, July 9, 7:00 to 9:30 pm, Temple Beth El, 2 Concord Ave., Belmont

To discuss "Concept Alternatives"

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting

Monday, August 5, 7PM in the Natick Police Dept.'s Conference Room.

A final NBPAC review of our draft comment letter re MassHighway's Route 135 Reconstruction. The contract has been awarded, construction is to begin this fall, and we are reassured that there IS time for the promised meeting with the highway design consultant -- and time to incorporate resulting changes.

Revised plans to complete the northern trail in Pegan Cove Park. Latest set-back: The NCC now proposes to ban bicycle usage there!

Plan NBPAC activities at Natick Days (Saturday, Sept. 14th).

Review new Mass. Greenway Initiative, reports, etc.

Review draft Natick Open Space Plan status, needs (if any).

Review successful June-July Cochituate Rail Trail exhibit in Natick Morse Institute Library. Other venues, etc.?

Review recent progress on Cochituate Rail Trail.

Updates on many other projects.

For more information, contact Dick Miller, Chairman, at TheMillers@millermicro.com.

Action Group of Friends of the Community Path

Monday, August 5, 7:00-9:00 pm, 112 Belmont Street, Somerville, (off Highland just after Somerville Hospital)

"The mission of the Friends of the Community Path is to extend the Minuteman Bikeway to Boston.

To Lechmere... and Beyond!!"

Boston MPO Public Meetings

HELP DEFINE TRANSPORTATION IN OUR REGION

Join the Public Discussions on the Draft Unified Planning Work Program, the Draft Environmental Justice Addendum to the 2000-2025 Regional Transportation Plan and the Draft Amendment to the FY 2002 Transportation Improvement Program.

There will be five workshops:

• BOSTON
  Monday, August 19th,12:00-2:00 PM Conference Room 1 of the Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza (accessible from Boylston Station, Green Line, and Chinatown Station, Orange Line).
• ROXBURY
  Monday, August 19th, 5:30-7:30 PM Dudley Public Library, 65 Warren St. (accessible from MBTA bus-Dudley Station, and the Silver Line).
• QUINCY
  Tuesday, August 20th, 6:00-8:00 PM Second Floor meeting room, Quincy City Hall, Hancock St. (accessible from the Quincy Center station, Red Line, Braintree Branch).
• FRAMINGHAM
  Wednesday, August 21st, 6:00-8:00 PM Ablondi Room, Framingham Town Hall, Memorial Building, 150 Concord St., (accessible from Framingham Commuter Rail Station, Framingham/Worcester Line).
• SALEM
  Tuesday, August 27th, 6:00-8:00 PM City Hall Annex, 120 Washington St.(on the #450 or #455 bus from Haymarket Square in Boston, or four blocks from Salem Depot commuter rail station on the Newburyport/Rockport Line).

Each discussion will begin with a short plenary session and continue in an informal small group format. MPO personnel will be on hand to lead the discussions, answer questions, and receive feedback. The public comment period closes at 5:00 PM Tuesday, September 3rd.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Pam Wolfe of the MPO Staff,617-973-7141 or by E-mail at pamwolfe@ctps.org.

Download the Workshop Schedule Flyer in PDF format.

Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee (ABAC)

Monday, September 9, 7:30-9:30pm. Arlington Town Hall, Annex Building, 1st floor conference room. (Enter from Academy Street-toward rear of building.)

New and occasional participants are always welcome to attend.

n addition, you are welcome to stop by our booth at ARLINGTON TOWN DAY on Saturday, September 14, 10am-3pm. We are conducting a local BICYCLING SURVEY at Town Day, and we would appreciate receiving your feedback. (Town Day is Arlington's annual street fair, located on Mass Ave in Arlington Center. The rain date is Saturday, Sept 21.)

Friends of the Community Path monthly meeting

Monday, September 9, 7:00 - 9:00pm, 112 Belmont Street, #2 Somerville, 02143

(Between Summer St. and Highland Ave. One block east of Lowell St.)

For more info, email friendspath@yahoo.com.

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting

Monday, September 9, 7:00 pm in the Natick Police Dept.'s Conference Room

It will feature:

MassHighway's Route 135 Reconstruction; at last, Natick's highway design consultant and Sarki Sarkisian, Natick's Director of Community Development, will attend and discuss remaining NBPAC concerns. (Yes, construction is expected to begin this fall.)

Revised schedule to complete the northern trail in Pegan Cove Park. Latest set-back: The NCC now proposes to ban bicycle usage there!

Plan NBPAC activities at Natick Days (Saturday, Sept. 14th).

Review draft Natick Open Space Plan status, needs (if any).

Review recent progress on Cochituate Rail Trail.

Updates on other projects.

For further information, contact Richard Miller, chair, at TheMillers@millermicro.com.

Framingham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Tuesday September 10, 7:30 PM, Lower Nevins Conference Room 1

7:30

Review meeting minutes

Vote on recommending Richard Whalen as a member of the Executive Committee

7:45 Framingham Rail Trail

Summary of activities of the Rail Tail Task Force, chaired by John Stasik

Decide about submitting a letter of support for development of a Rail Trail on the abandoned South Sudbury Industrial Track

8:00

Mark Dempsey, an architectural access engineer for the MetroWest Center for Independent Living, will explain the necessary accommodations for sidewalks, crosswalks, and trails to permit access for people with disabilities.

8:45

Public comment

Assabet River Rail Trail Meeting

Wednesday, September 25, 7:00 pm at Marlborough City Hall.

There is no word yet from Mass Highway on advertising for construction bids for Marlborough-Hudson. However we will preview a slide show of the trail before construction - a mini virtual tour of Marlborough-Hudson. Note: despite trail clearings and a dry summer there is a lot of vegetation obscuring some interesting details. We will be adding to the show this fall.

For further information, contact Duncan Power, ARRT Clerk at dpower508@rcn.com.

Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee (ABAC) Monday, October 7, 7:30-9:30 pm, Arlington Town Hall, Annex Building, 1st floor conference room. (Enter from Academy Street side - toward rear of building.)

New and occasional participants are always welcome to attend.
Refreshments available at 7:15pm, compliments of Xtopher Tonkin.
Agenda
Introductions.
Accept minutes from prior meeting.
Review of recent events:
ABAC Booth at Arlington Town Day (Sept 14).
Bicycling in Arlington survey results from Town Day.
"Bike Rides for Ordinary People" team at Ride for Hunger (Sept 22).
On-road transportation updates:
Updates from Arlington Transportation Advisory Committee.
Summer Street reconstruction in Arlington now scheduled for 2003. ABAC members were involved in prior design reviews, and the reconstructed street will be much improved for bike/pedestrian use.
Minuteman Bikeway - maintenance:
- Post-repaving edging work still needs to be completed on bikeway.
- Ron and Jack planning to meet with DPW later in Oct about new bikeway signs, etc.
Alewife Connector/MDC paths:
Review/discuss draft ABAC memo on proposed Alewife Connector and MDC Alewife Reservation Paths. (Note that the MDC might hold another public hearing on the Alewife Reservation plan in early November; no details yet.)
Planning/Development updates:
Review/discuss draft ABAC memo on improved bicycle parking at Gold's Gym in Arlington Heights.
"Moving Together" statewide bicycle/pedestrian conference, Oct 23-24.
Rails-to-Trails national conference, being planned for late-June 2003 in New England.
Other Planning/Development updates and news?
Bicycling and Arlington Schools:
Discuss school system's policy and issues regarding bicycling to school, in light of community discussions at our Town Day booth. Our goal is collaborate with the schools to increase awareness and provide education about possible safe bike routes to school.
As a planned follow-up, we have invited the town's School Safety Officer, David McKenna, to join us for our ABAC meeting on November 4th.

"Moving Together," the statewide bicycle and pedestrian conference

Wednesday-Thursday, October 23 - 24, 2002, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Worcester.

The conference is sponsored by MassHighway, the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. There will be 15 workshops on many aspects of the two modes, including community, trail and roadway design, working with the media and medical community, safety initiatives, and program evaluation. Conference registration information is available by contacting the Baystate Roads Program at (413) 545-2604, or e-mailing: ahmadjia@ecs.umass.edu.

The "Moving Together" conference flyer can be downloaded in PDF format (339 KB) from http://www.state.ma.us/mhd/paths/bikewalkflyer.pdf.

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting

Monday, November 4, 7:00 pm in the Natick Police Dept.'s Conference Room.

It will feature:

• MassHighway's Route 135 Reconstruction (apparently postponed until Spring 2003); tonight Sarkis Sarkisian and BETA Group return with response to our Sept. review of NBPAC issues letter. Joyce Moss of Natick Center Associates also attends.
• Review MassHighway's "Moving Together 2002" Bicyle Conference (Oct. 23-24th in Worcester).
• Discuss the Town Meeting Skateboarding Article (Joyce Moss, Chief Mannix expected).
• Tim Collins will present his proposal for a Natick Walking Program.
• Other items.

Framingham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Tuesday, November 12, at 7:30 pm, Lower Nevins Conference Room 1

Agenda

• 7:30 PM Review meeting minutes and various correspondence.
• 7:45 PM: Report on Moving Together 2002, the statewide bicycle and pedestrian conference held last month.
• 8:10 PM Review National Development's site plans for the proposed esidential development in Saxonville. The review will be exclusively for adequacy of pedestrian, wheelchair, and bicycle accommodation. FBPAC will make constructive sugges- tions to the developer and the Planning Board.
• 8:50 PM Public comment

Somerville Railroad History Lecture

Friday, November 15, 7:30 to 9:00 pm, Somerville Museum at the corner of Westwood Road and Central Street

Buddliners to Bike Path

John Alan Roderick, a local railroad historian, will present a brief look back at the railroad in Somerville. He will discuss, among other topics, the former railroad (replaced by the bike path from Cedar Street to Davis Square) as it existed in the middle to late 1970s.

For reservations please call 617-666-9810. Donations are welcomed.

Note: Railroad history signs are part of the Community Path vision. Volunteers who remember the old railroad, or have pictures, are solicited to help make this happen.

-Friends of the Community Path

Natick Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Monday, December 2, 7:00-9:00 pm, Natick Police Dept. Conference Room

It will feature:

• Draft letter re sidewalk snow-removal (Mel).
• MassHighway's Route 135 Reconstruction (apparently postponed until Spring 2003). This afternoon, we learned that consultant Mike Vignale (BETA Group) has not yet written the expected response to our Sept. NBPAC review of Rte. 135 issues; Mike won't attend. He does plan to complete that letter in about one week.
• Review meetings with Tim Collins, re proposed Natick Walking Program (Jill, Dick, Tim?).
• Cochituate Rail Trail, including CSX debris (Dick).
• Pegan Cove Park; new North Trail, Cognex (Dick).
• Trail mapping and signage (Jill, Dick).
• Mass. Legislation (Susan).
• Street-fix database (Susan).
• Natick Open Space Committee (Martin).
• Other items?

For further information, contact the chair, Dick Miller, at TheMillers@millermicro.com.

Action Group of Friends of the Community Path

Monday, December 9, 7:00-9:00 pm, 112 Belmont Street, #2 in Somerville

(Between Summer St and Highland Ave two Blocks east of Somerville Hospital)

For further information, call 617-776-7769

Framingham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Tuesday December 10, 7:30 pm, Lower Nevins Conference Room

Agenda

• 7:30 pm: Review meeting minutes and various correspondence.
• 7:45 pm: Watch the public service Ride Smart bicycle safety video then decide how best to circulate it.
• 8:10 pm: Create Work Plan for 2003. Draft 2002 report to the Selectmen.
• 8:45 pm: Public comment