Subcommittee Meeting Minutes
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Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
January 26, 2010; noon
Attendees: Caroline Cooley, Anne Victoria, Monika Miller, Jesse O’Hatnick, Mike Smith, Mike and Paige Winck, Jim Hagerman, John Witherspoon, Stephanie Welch, John Hunter, Kelley Segars
1. Announcements
Since Keith left last summer, we haven’t filled the Vice Chair position, but now Monika has agreed to step up to fill that role. She has been very involved in Bicycle Program events and programs, so we are pleased to have her as Vice Chair.
Brian Watson stepped down from the BAC because of time constraints, but Anne Victoria is filling the vacancy. Anne can continue to represent UT interests, and has been very involved in Bicycle Plan implementation.
The 2009 Bicycle Plan has finally been published in its “pretty” format with photos and graphics included. Each member received a copy, but it is also online.
There is a public meeting tomorrow (Wed, Jan 27) at 5:30 p.m. in the Small Assembly Room to talk about the City’s plans to ask TDOT to included bike lanes on the new Henley St Bridge when it is rebuilt.
There have been more meetings in Blount County talking about bicycle issues, and plans to promote some alternatives routes to the one that is most-used from Coulter’s Bridge to Townsend. Elle Colquitt is helping the group with routes and maps.
The Oak Ridge Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan public meeting on Jan 5 was very successful, despite bad weather. About 100 people showed up and provided very good input. Kelley and staff are working on sorting through the comments and putting together a draft plan for more public comment.
Kelley asked the group what they thought about a request to let someone take over the bikeknoxville blog address because it is the name of a business that got started. There was some discussion about selling (asking for donation) was best or not. After a vote, it was decided that Anne would take over maintaining the current blog, with some help from Jim, and that the person would need to use a similar name or different blog service for his business. There were concerns about the Bicycle Program blog suddenly changing into a private blog, although it was recognized that the business does promote bicycling in Knoxville.
Kelley said she would like to try something new as recommended in a webinar from last year. Each meeting we will go around the table and everyone will report on what they have done for bicycling since the last meeting. Kelley distributed a list of options, including some things that anyone can do, and a few tasks specifically for BAC members.
In the spirit of the new roundtable reporting, Caroline reported that she, the Bike Zoo and Mast General Store are collaborating on a grant application from Specialized. This would be for a Youth on Bikes program where 10 kids between ages 10 and 12 would earn a bicycle through bike classes and community service.
Caroline also reported that she is attending the National Bike Summit again in March in Washington D.C. along with Elle Colquitt. We appreciate them representing our region at this important event for bicycle advocates.
2. Outreach
Kelley said that Tour de Lights was extremely successful with more than 450 people riding.
Smart Trips Month planning and Bike to Work Day planning is starting. Kelley asked if there were ideas for other bike events, or any thoughts on making current events better. Anne spoke about City People’s Downtown Dash and its promotion of biking, transit use, etc to get to the event itself. The theme is mobility and different ways to get downtown, and get around downtown. The event will be June 5. Jesse wondered if AMBC would have their Poker Derby as part of ST Month because it was so much fun and showed people how to use the greenways to get places.
3. Education
Mike Winck reported that he, Paige and Kelley gave a presentation on driving safely around bicyclists to all the Drivers Ed students at Hardin Valley Academy last week, 150 students. It was very well received by the students. They will be giving the presentation in Feb to all the drivers ed teachers in Knox County, and are talking about how best to get it out to next year’s drivers ed students. We may be working on a Train the Trainer program to develop a core group of people to give these presentations each year throughout the county, and other counties if possible. Kelley will send the presentation out to BAC members for input, although it is difficult to get a real sense of it without seeing us in person (the speech and skits are not included, just the slides).
Kelley is starting presentations at KPD inservice sessions next week, and will be doing that each week through early May to get all the officers. Mike W. will help out too.
4. Projects
Kelley is still working on the City of Knoxville bike routes, and is getting close to ordering the signs. The new shared use lane markings have been approved nationally, so they can be used now as part of this same project for the $20,000 of City funds.
5. Other
Stephanie reported that the Health Dept was selected to receive a Robert Wood Johnson grant to increase opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating in target neighborhoods. This is a 4-year grant, and the first year will focus on Lonsdale, Inskip, and Mascot. The idea is to build neighborhood-level advocacy.
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Knoxville Regional Bicycle Program