Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission

Wheaton Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission February 21, 2024 7pm Gammon Room, Wheaton City Hall, Wheaton, IL In person and Virtual meeting I. Call to Order 7:00 pm Members present live: Michelle, Rita, Bill, Cate, Connor, Bob, Lou Members present via Zoom: George, Laurel Members absent: Dave, Alyse Public Present live: Joe Amore, Environmental Commission of Villa Park Public Present via Zoom: None II. Agenda Item Approval of January Minutes Motioned: Bill Seconded: Cate Unanimously approved via voice vote. III. Public Comment Joe Amore, Bike/Pedestrian Commission of Environmental Commission of Villa Park. He said they are In the process of creating a tri-trial connector - IPP, Great Western and Salt Creek trails. He will keep us informed of this project. IV. Agenda Item Chair Report- A. Updates on Requested Signs from City a. Cromwell Path Signs: Per John Duguay-The signs have been designed and waiting to be fabricated. Also, locations selected. The Signs crew is working on it as time allows this winter and will install when the ground thaws/spring. b. Carlton/Roosevelt Sign- Per John Duguay-This sign has been approved by IDOT and we are in process of getting it installed. c. Directional Signs to Underpass- Per John Duguay-This is still in process, IDOT has denied all of the proposed signs in IDOT right of way and we are looking at possible alternates and/or elimination of certain wayfinding signs. d. Welcome to Wheaton Signs on IPP- Per John Duguay-We are working on the design and once permit is received from DuPage County, it will be installed (when ground thaws) B. February City Council Meeting- a. DuPage County Health Department was granted a special use permit to expand their Crisis Recovery Center. This will be a new building near the Health Dept.'s WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 21, 2024 building for in-patient adult and youth mental health and withdrawal/addiction issues. b. SAVERS Thrift Store wants to put one mobile donation office (large van) in a commercial parking lot in Wheaton. This mobile unit would have an on-site attendant and any profit made would go to the American Red Cross.They will need to obtain a special permit once they decide on a location. c. Everything else was more budget related for city services (actuarial services, building code inspections, replacement sewer vacuum truck). C. Safe Routes- Alyse reached out to the city to let them know that Connor will be our liaison. Connor had not heard anything from the city yet and is following up with Joseph Tebrugge. Connor has meetings set up with Emerson and Edison schools in the next few weeks. D. Grant Writing- Alyse reached out to the city to let them know she will be our liaison. V. Agenda Item Ongoing Business A. Possible update to our Resource section on our webpage. sportsdegreeonline.org/introducing-kids-to-biking/ - Bill motioned that we add this to our resource page on our website. Bob 2nd the motion. B. Bike Plan Review Recommend we change the title to Bike and Pedestrian plan. Executive Summary: Consultant could suggest a # or % if we need to increase. and location. ordinance to have min # of racks. Add new section on Complete Streets. Lisle has a Complete Streets section in their plan. Keep bus stops free of snow. Community plan - improve awareness of what we are doing in the community (i.e.car-free day). Improve segment of IPP path on Liberty drive. Benefits of Bicycling: Identify roads for improvements. May need new section on pedestrian crossings as well as bike crossings. Could add speedbumps as there are on Hale street. Get citations from consultant on transportation costs. What case studies and costs can we point to? Plan Methodology: Working with IDOT and City Engineering Dept. on Roosevelt/Carlton, Geneva Road/County Farm and Winfield/Butterfield roads intersections. Add a section about dangerous crossings. Biking in Wheaton today: Consultant look at 2007 Park dist plan. Consultant should be in contact with d200 & d89 & City of Wheaton Engineering Existing Facilities: Long-term, all day for metra commuters? Long term, overnight for condo/apartments. Yes retail outside downtown more racks-see Bike Friendly Ordinance. Regional Context: Should we create a "connectivity plan" to facilitate future biking from Wheaton to Regional Bike Plan and other communities? Create Bikeways from North & South to get people to downtown safely. Bicycle Network: Bike map on page 19. Update and add roads done, such as Cromwell path and add St. James paths. We will need a similar map for pedestrian routes. Recommend we have another open meeting to discuss other places people would like to bike/walk to but there are no safe routes. Find out if other suburbs use bike boxes? Utilitarian uses, people getting to work, not just recreation. Glossary of Potential Treatments: Identify critical corridors within the network on which demand is supported by 2023 resident survey data, e.g. Proposed Bicycle Network Map on page 19, and implement bike lanes and/or side paths. 2 WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 21, 2024 Bicycle Network Recommendations: Add protected bike lane to Liberty Drive. The City should include a section on their website to allow residents and businesses to request bicycle parking. Bicycle Friendly Ordinances: Reference our plans with the City of Wheaton Complete Streets policy that was adopted in 2021. Bicycle Friendly Policies: Adopt a zoning ordinance to require bike parking at retail, commercial, multi-family residential and industrial sites. Including curb cuts and clearing of bus stops, ease of access to public transportation. Add charging stations for e-bikes and scooters. Programming: Does Programming belong in Bike Plan? Yes, justification for what we do. Education: This section has several references to the Environmental Improvement commission, those should be replaced with Bicyclist and Pedestrian Commission. Also remove all references to specific years (2012 is mentioned multiple times). We need more participation from the Wheaton Park District, perhaps the consultant can meet with them directly to get a bicycle liaison within the park district to work with the Bicyclist and Pedestrian commission and the Wheaton Police Department. Encouragement: Add the Bicycle Commision to this section instead of Environmental commission, and have the consultant meet with the city to consider the suggestions such as a car free day in a section of town. Build upon National Bike Month, not just one week in the spring. Promote to kids. Bike Walk & roll. Car free day maybe not all Wheaton, but a small thing like our old bike parade at Bike Fest, Kids loved having the road to themselves, Getting businesses involved. Enforcement: This section currently has some very good suggestions, however we need more city encouragement to the police department to implement the ideas. Maybe the consultant can meet directly with the police department to share the suggestions in this section. Request a bicycle liaison within the police department as a point of contact for the bicycle commission. This could also be something we do now. Downtown Bike Patrol for enforcement of correct biking protocols (not ride on sidewalks, wear helmets). Environmental Improvement Commission: This was in plan because there was no bike commission. We are no longer a sub-committee but our own commission. This could be removed or reworded with our commission mission statement. Bicycle Coordinator: John Duguay has been designated as our coordinator-this is done. Become a Bicycle Friendly Community: Leave in but we understand it's a large undertaking. We can use it as a checklist at minimum. City & police dept support required. Annual Progress Report: Required by the city - keep in the plan. Commitment to Funding: Could our Grant person also be funding & finance liaison? Collect and Analyze Data: Include up to date collision in our new bike plan. Schedule for traffic counter & best locations? Also pedestrian data. How many bikes sold from shops? IDOT crash data. Implementation Map and Matrix: We need data gathering meeting with Consultant. Like we did before but include ped/scooters.e-bikes, etc. Including curb cuts, access to public trans, clearing of bus stops, etc Appendices: Need to update all data with the most current statistics.. Cate has updated funding resources. Bob has updated programming resources (all URL’s). There is a methodology for bicycle level of service - Appendix G Add our current Bike Map - Good, Better, Best. Bikeways/Pedways from North and South to downtown that all can use. Add dates for any roads in next 5 years where we are talking about improvements. 3 WHEATON BICYCLIST & PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 21, 2024 Michelle asked that we continue to add ideas to the Bike Plan Review and we will discuss more at the March meeting. C. March City council meeting - Connor will attend. X. Agenda Item New Business A. Date for Recycling Extravaganza-Apr 13 8:30-noon Next Meeting: Mar 20, 2024 X. Adjournment - 8:43 pm Approved 4