BikeBedford.org > Minutes & Archives > Minutes > BBAC20050608minutes.html

Bedford Bicycle Advisory Committee

(approved 2005 Aug 11)

June 8, 2005

Present: Ray Ruetenik, Bob Sawyer, Ralph Hammond, Joel Parks, Charlie Webster, Jim Nevins, Steve Williams, Amy Mason, and Holly Webster.

7:45pm. Minutes from the last meeting were approved.

Continuing:

  1. MM Bikeway extension – Bob Sawyer reported that VHB has been awarded the contract. He will call Rich Warrington for more details.
  2. Sidewalk passability – Joel will definitely bring his map and assignments to the next meeting.
  3. East Bedford Industrial Area – Joel will find out about the possibility of getting on the Planning Board’s next meeting and let us know if it comes before our next meeting.
  4. MAGIC Meeting – Ray had attended and reported that there is money available in small quantities but we have to do some digging to get at it. Ralph volunteered to work toward a grant proposal for signage and/or racks or other??? and he will start with Gordon Feltman as his resource.
  5. Bike racks – Holly will contact the new director of the library when he begins work. Ralph will speak to Rich Warrington to see if he could attend our meetings more often, perhaps he can assign someone else to do this at least for every other meeting.
  6. Transportation Committee – This item was tabled as no one had attended their last meeting.
  7. Police Accident Report - Bob Sawyer reported that there were no accidents in April and one in May.

New:

  1. Communication from Bryce Nesbitt – This was received via e-mail by Joel. It deals with path issues in the Somerville, Watertown, and Belmont areas. Joel will forward email to committee members and put a link to the information on the bikebedford.org website. (See the end of this page for the attached email.)

Next meeting July 13, Town Hall, 7:30pm

Meeting adjourned at 8:20pm.

Bedford Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway

Minutes of the last meeting were approved.

Continuing:

  1. PMC kids – Amy reported that 165 kids have registered. Over $5000 has been raised so far from private sources and businesses in town for the Jimmy Fund. She needs 10 additional adult volunteers to add to the 65 that have already signed up. Joel, Charlie and Holly said they would help ride with the kids and Joel will not only ride but bring his tools. Amy also reported that they have a Pedal Partner, a six year old that is being treated by the Dana Farber Cancer Center.
  2. Police bike safety Clinic – June 11. Amy had volunteered to help along with Ray and Joel and one representative from the Bike Source.
  3. Bridge Street path – Ray reported that Mr. Drucker has agreed to a meeting with Ray and Elizabeth Bagdonis at 7:30am June 15. He is amenable to removing any invasive shrubs. The three of them will work out a plan under the guidance of Elizabeth.
  4. River Fest – June 11. Charlie and Holly have taken their practice ride and although some parts of it are too muddy to pass they have a partial cheat sheet from Bob Evans and they will work around those spots.
  5. "Bikeway" articles – Ray will bring ideas to the next meeting.

New:

  1. Jim Nevins told us that Millie Nash is known to have lead a group of her students cycling as a field trip. He was interested to know what we thought were the advantages of setting up a "Friends" group which they might pursue in Burlington. Joel told him that the helmets provided for Bike Safety Clinic were provided by Bedford Police Dept. Our Tour de Bedford rides are actually under the auspices of the BBAC because of insurance purposes. "Friends" has been able to get the grant for the west Bikeway extension feasibility study and to collect dues. Jim reported that members of Burlington’s Recreation Committee, Planning, DPW, Land Use and other functions regularly attend bicycle committee meetings. Our committee should consider this.

Meeting adjourned at 9:20pm

an email about recent activities concerning trails in the metro Boston area

From: "Bryce Nesbitt (by way of Harvey Bingham )"
Subject: For Rail Trail Caucus Members: May 2005 Abandonment / EPA Settlement
Date: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 11:24 AM
For those interested in the Boston area multi-use trail network, filling the gaps, here are three brief announcements:
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In May 2005, the Springfield Terminal Railway filed to abandon the remaining track of the Watertown Branch Railroad. This segment would help complete a world-class 18 mile long recreational loop near Boston, in addition to a great set of commuter and MBTA access routes, which compliment on-road routes. See http://www.pathfriends.org/bemis/ for details. The land won't be cheap, but only modest planning obstacles are presented. One worry is the amount of truck traffic that will be required to replace the lost rail capacity.
An EPA settlement is resulting in a land transfer that links the Boston Harborwalk to the Mystic River path system, near Amelia Earhart Dam. See http://www.pathfriends.org/lower_mystic/ for details. Unfortunately, due to EPA regulations, this land transfer was negotiated among a very limited interest group. Now the details are public, and regional planners should be aware of the settlement, and help decide if moving forward is a good idea.
Volunteers are working on a section of the Somerville Community path, seeking permission to pull up old rails and trade them with a local railroad museum. This path project, connecting the Minuteman Bikeway to North Station, continues to move steadily forward in several planning contexts.
Detailed planning maps of all the above projects can be made at the MassGIS website, using the Statewide Bicycle Trails layer ( http://www.mass.gov/mgis/biketrails.htm ). For example see http://tinyurl.com/aokex.
-Bryce Nesbitt