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A master bike plan for Somerville is currently being developed by the Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee.
By Kori Stewart
The Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee started talks about a master bike plan Thursday. The committee is tasked with creating an advisory plan for the city to overhaul the urban biking system and pinpoint improvements to be made.
For Fiscal Year 2020 the city has set aside about $200,000 towards improving the bicycle infrastructure and the Somerville Bicycle Committee (SBC) will devise a plan on how to allocate funds pending city approval. The plan is in its infancy, with Thursday meeting being the first one to include talks about it.
However, even initially it is clear there are many ideas among the committee on how to spend the increased budget. Thought was also put into how to make the plan as efficient for the future as it is in the present with Secretary Ted Lester saying, “goals are great but concrete plans are what matter.” Many members of the committee also mentioned the need for the plan to convert into solid results.
Another key point focused on was the idea of short term versus long term goals and plan for the city. Committee member Alan Moore highlighted the importance of having a timeline built into the plan. While other members would like the plan to include outlines for different time frames; three, five, and ten year plans were all mentioned.
Along with the master plan talks, Thursday’s meeting also included updates about ongoing project around the city of Somerville. Some notable movements in city updates include the painted bike lanes on Cameron Avenue being completed. As well as the marking and sign work starting at Central Broadway in August.
Additionally, Somerville will be adding seven Blue Bike stations to the city. Including stations at the Edgerly School, Spring Hill and Craigie, and Porter Square at Elm and White.
The meeting wrapped up with a recap of the SBC’s last organized ride, Tour de Somerville. About 30 riders and 10 child passengers rode five miles through the city.
The next organized ride will be in September and will be a back-to-school ride and a joint effort between the SBC and Shape Up. The October ride will be a historic ride and the theme is Tracking the T.
The next Somerville Bicycle Committee meeting will be held August 1 at the Somerville Police Department on Washington Street starting at 6:30 p.m.
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Small correction: the bike network plan will be developed by the City of Somerville with input from the Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee. The City of Somerville’s 2020 budget, approved by City Council, includes a $215k line item for, “Professional & technical services for Vision Zero implementation, including on-call traffic engineering services, signal timing plans, and preparation of a long-range bicycle network plan.”
Why does the city give these unelected so much credence? When will they include the Somerville Disability Commission, the Council on Aging (both actual city commissions), and other groups who are impacted by these decisions a seat at the table?
But keeping their bicycles off the business-district sidewalks never seems to be on the SBC agenda, does it?
Regardless, the business-region walkways never are clearly on the SBC plan in keeping their bikes off. The bicycle system plan will be created by the City of Somerville with contribution from the Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee.
A local ordinance prohibits sidewalk cycling on business-district sidewalks.
This is basically ignored by most local cyclists, despite being a violation of public safety. The SBC has never come to grips with it.