Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission

Minutes - Wheaton Bicycle Advisory Committee Subcommittee of the Environmental Improvement Commission Wednesday November 8th, 2017 Roll Call: Chair, Dan Dlhy, called the meeting to order at 7:01pm In Attendance: Nancy Allured, Michelle, Dunlap, Carrie Provost, Therese Kushman, Laurel Salvador, Jim Knasel, and Mike Barbier (City Councilman) Approval of Minutes: Dan Dlhy moved to accept the minutes and Michelle Dunlap approved and Laurel Salvador seconded. The minutes were approved. Public Comment: None Chair Report: Website Update - The city of Wheaton updated their website which caused our web page to be inaccessible. The city was quick to react and resolve the issue to ensure that our page was accessible to the public on their site. Also, the city of Wheaton announced that it was placing 750+ way finding & route street signs for bicyclists up all over the city. This was reported to us by the city via email, as well as social media posts. In turn, the WBAC committee also promoted this news via email and social media for additional promotion. Ongoing Business: Councilman Mike Barbier attended our meeting to discuss the economic impact bicyclists can have on the local economy. We discussed this experience with bike trails in Arizona and how they separate automobiles, pedestrians and bicyclists. He also mentioned the Indiana Trail and how cities can stimulate economic activity by providing safe bike trails into areas that contain a lot of businesses. Then he provided us with some information on a possible plan to provide separate lanes for bicyclists leading in and out of downtown Wheaton. We saw mock-ups of possible plans that will be brought up to the city council. We also discussed the possible renovation of the underpass under Roosevelt Road at Wheaton Road, which would help provide safe passage for pedestrians and bicyclists getting to downtown Wheaton. We discussed going to the Coffee with Council meeting in December to discuss the possible new Downtown Wheaton plan that will create separate lanes for bicycles and vehicles. We also determined that we should reach out to our local city councilman / councilwoman to express our interest in having the city implement such a plan. Nancy Allured, Michelle Dunlap and Carrie Provost stated that they were available to attend the December Coffee with Council meeting to discuss this plan with material supplied to us by Mike Barbier.  The WBAC also discussed implementing a more formal way to gather feedback from city patrons when attending various events held by our sub-committee. We need to gather email addresses from the patrons as we have neglected doing so in past events. New Business: None discussed Other topics from Committee Members: None discussed Upcoming Committee Meetings: Wednesday January 17th, 2018 Wednesday February 21st, 2018 Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:16pm Respectfully Submitted: Dan Dlhy, Chair