Minutes from AS&R Meeting of January 11, 2015
Attending: Harry Chomsky, Peter Maass, Sherie Reineman, Amy Smolens, Preston Jordan, Nick Pilch, and Ken McCroskey
Treasurer’s Report
Harry let us know that we have $4,900 in the bank, $50 in our PayPal account, and $400 in an account with Bike East Bay. Future obligations are limited to an order for additional bike bike racks at some unknown date. Ideas for projects were discussed, including putting a fixit station at a school (about $800 each).
Street Closings at El Cerrito Plaza
It was agreed that we have no position on the street closings. We do expect that pedestrians and bikes could still navigate through. It was noted that closing the streets would allow completion of the Cerrito Creek Trail.
Neck & Bulb Transition to Eastshore State Park
Amy will represent AS&R as the City reaches out to community groups on plans for transitioning the Neck and Bulb over to the East Bay Regional Park District. It was noted that we should recommend that the City reach out to the Albany High Mountain Biking Team as well, since they use that area.
Kains and Adams Bike Boulevards
These have been on the future items portion of the Traffic and Safety Agenda for some time. It was unknown when the process might move forward.
East Bay Bike Summit
Preston, Amy, Sherie, and Ken will be attending all or part of the Bike East Bay Summit on January 24-25. Should be a good opportunity to network with other local advocates for cycling. Several ideas were proposed to promote at the Summit:
– E-Bikes are growing in popularity. How will Bike East Bay approach integrating electric bikes into the transportation web.
– Self driving cars are on the horizon. This may be an opportunity for increased cycling lanes due to lower use of parking on major streets. Also, is any action required to insure that these vehicles respect cyclists on the road?
– Review of infrastructure projects: The more eyes on road projects the better. How can local groups like AS&R, BikeWalkAlameda, etc. band together to help review plans and share experience? Does Bike East Bay have the bandwidth to cover areas without their own local group? Would we be able to band together and get a grant to hire our own engineering professionals to review plans? How can Bike East Bay help energize these efforts?
– Bike East Bay should lobby to ACTC and MTC to get priority repaving for cycling routes.
– Bike East Bay should consider advocating for and indicating separately active and relaxed cycling routes to help better serve the range of cyclists.
Nick’s Council Member View
Nick is looking to take a step back from his active role in AS&R as he ramps up with City Council duties. He reports a broader view from his new position, including increased contact with other elected officials.
City Council’s Strategic Vision
Preston has taken the lead on advocating for defined metrics under the Council goal of implementing the Active Transportation Plan striping and signage. We would like to see half implemented by 2017 and full completion by 2020. He is also advocating for a defined income source for sidewalk maintenance, possibly from a parcel tax measure on the 2016 ballot.
