Walk/Bike Council of Addison County Meeting Mon April 8, 2024, 7 pm Online

[Laura Asermily]

The council is due to meet quarterly on first Monday of month and overdue, especially given that we skipped our Jan 2024 meeting. We're checking in for our next one on Eclipse Monday April 8 at 7 pm online.  Hopefully, we won't be too worn out by eclipse revelry. We're asking council "regulars" to let us know what they've been working on or want to work on with regard to walk/bike matters and how they'd like the council to proceed. See checklist below by way of updating you on some items.  Guests on the middbikeped list are welcome to attend online or send their comments to me. Happy and safe walking and riding, Laura

Google Meet joining info

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/nng-mfta-dki

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 402-685-0223‬ PIN: ‪679 173 044‬#

Walk/Bike Council of AC Checklist

• Upcoming infrastructure projects (South St, others)
• Local Motion H.685 legislative effort (see below and here)
• ACRPC Transportation Plan input sought (the current plan is in the transportation section of the acrpc website. The section on bike ped facilities is on pages 6-38 to 6-47, focus there, add Triangle Bike Loop priority).
• Triangle Bike Loop next steps (signage placement help, marketing)
• Midd Bike Ped Plan Final Report monitoring (here’s the link for the Infrastructure packet. The bike/ped plan has several different documents in there, focus on Court St. signal observations) 
• Safe Routes to School help (walk & roll days, bike skills, helmets)
• Middlebury Bike Swap help (Sat May 4, 9-12)  
• Bristol Human Powered Parade help (Sat. May 18, 10-12) 
• Exchange St Multi-use Path monitoring (expected to go to bid soon with construction this summer)
• E-Bikes, Scooters, Wheelchairs (Free Loans, Regulation, Demos, Parking)
• Walk/Bike Council of AC outreach (website, FB, FPF)
• VT Walk/Bike Summit Thurs June 20, 2024, St Johnsbury (car pooling)
  
  

Here's what H.685 does:

Makes safe passing of vulnerable users a requirement. Current statute recommends that drivers increase clearance to 4 feet when passing vulnerable users. Language in the statute should be strengthened to make this a requirement.

Makes bicycling safer by allowing stop-as-yield. Many states have enacted laws that allow people on bikes to treat stop signs as yield signs. People biking are required to slow and prepare to stop at stop signs. If there is traffic present, people biking must stop as normal. If there is no other traffic present, people biking may slowly roll through the stop. Here’s a fact sheet emphasizing the effectiveness and safety of these laws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Removes Vermont's problematic sidewalk use requirement. Current statute requires people to walk on sidewalks when present. Sidewalks in VT are often in very poor condition and unusable by those using assistive devices even during the summer. In the winter, ponding often results in sidewalks being unusable—and that’s when they have been plowed. People walk in the street for these and other legitimate reasons. This and other jaywalking laws put the burden of safety on our most vulnerable users, and across the country have disproportionately affected marginalized groups.

Allows people on bikes to cross intersections on pedestrian signals. It is very safe and intuitive for people on bikes to cross intersections on parallel walk signals after stopping and yielding to people walking. This practice allows people on bikes to get out ahead of cars, which reduces exposure and makes us more visible. This should be made legal in state law.

Corrects the definition of pedestrian to include people using wheelchairs and other assistive devices. The definition of “pedestrian” extends important legal protections, such as being granted the legal right-of-way in crosswalks. Electric wheelchair users are extended this protection, but the current definition of “pedestrian” in statute is not inclusive of users in non-powered wheelchairs and other devices.

[Maddison Shropshire]

Hi Folks,

Apologies but the previous link for the walk bike council meeting is broken. Here is a new link!

Walk Bike Council of Addison County Meeting
Monday, April 8 · 7:00 – 8:30pm
Time zone: America/New_York
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/bbs-pirk-wbh
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 971-251-5380‬ PIN: ‪887 434 012‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/bbs-pirk-wbh?pin=6503310087675

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The "Walk-Bike Council of Addison County" is our county-wide bike-ped organization.
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