Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee - Apr 16th, 2025

Meeting held via remote participation. Materials were available from https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/36611/18. These notes cover a subset of agenda items.

Cobweb Officer Report

Officer TJ Kelly says the town is installing temporary bike racks in advance of the 250th celebration this Sunday. There will be shuttle buses running between the Municipal lot and Lexington Center.

Planning Department Updates

Transportation Planner John Alessi summarizes the Park Avenue Safety Improvements meeting that was recently held at town hall. Approximately 125 attended to see Stantec's presentation of existing conditions, and several design alternatives. Stantec's study used cellular data from a company called Replica; this data allowed them to see that 70% of the traffic on Park Ave neither begins nor ends in Arlington.

There is an RFP out for the Broadway Corridor project, and Town Meeting will be asked to make an appropriation for matching funds. There are plans for public outreach and engagement. If all goes well, work should start sometime this summer.

Mr. Alessi continues to work with DPW, to site new bike racks in town.

DPW had planned to repair the footbridge near the Alewife T station last year, but the work wasn't completed then. We're still waiting to finalize paperwork with the MBTA. The bridge project may start in June on July of this summer.

Transportation Advisory Committee Report

Scott Smith says the Mystic Street Bridge work is under way. Marathon Street is scheduled to be repaved this summer. Most of TAC's meeting focused on crossing flags and 20 MPH safety zones.

Courtesy Sings for Minuteman Bikeway update

We have updated sign designs that use Arlington's Town logo. We still need to order the signs, and get their installation incorporated into DPW's workload.

Town Day Prep. Paying for the booth and give aways?

ABAC Chair Christopher Tonkin says that most of the Committee's budget has been spent on courtesy signs, and there will be little left for town day. He proposes buying some bicycle bells, and handing them out at town day.

Jack Johnson supports the idea, especially if we can put a logo on the bells. He says it's challenging to find bells that fit all styles of handlebars.

John Alessi says that BlueBikes sometimes gives away day passes. He'll see if that might be an option for town day. He asks about the possibility of giving out bicycle lights. Mr. Tonkin says he'll check with MassBike, to see if they can provide some lights.

A budget for ABAC?

Mr. Alessi says the Committee can request money from town meeting, but it's too late to do that this year. Mr. Tonkin thinks the Committee is okay for this year, but should make a request next year.

Cargo Bike Rental now active

Mr. Tonkin and Mr. Alessi checked out the new CargoB installation. People can rent the bike, and get the first fifteen minutes free with a promo code. CargoB might take part in some town events, as a way to show off their bikes. The town may sponsor an e-bike show and tell later this summer.

Would CargoB be interested in having a booth at Town Day? We can ask.

Safety Campaign for the Bikeway

Mr. Smith mocked up some designs for pamphlets, regarding what is and what isn't allowed on the Minuteman Bikeway.

Mr. Alessi spoke with the town's public information officer. Staff can produce graphics, once the messaging is finalized.

Tour of Arlington 2025, the Art Tour

The Town Bike tour will be held on June 8th. The route is scoped out. Officer Kelly will attempt to line up two COBWEB officers to act as escorts.

Bike Week Kick Off at the Aeronaut Brewery EALS? ABAC table?

The Bike Week kickoff event will be held at the Aeronaut Brewery in Somerville, from 1:00--4:00 PM on Sunday May 4th.

Subsidence on the Bikeway and other Hazards

Mr. Tonkin received an email about subsidence on the bikeway. The area in question was between the Kickstand Cafe and The Alewife T station, near Spy Pond field. The hillside appears to be washing out and there's a sizable drop from the edge of the pavement to the ground. This poses a safety issue.

There's are other areas with subsidence underneath the Lowell St Bridge, and between Lowell St and Park Ave.

Root heaves near Water St. area also getting bad.

These issues might be a conversation starter with the Town Manager's office about allocating funds for the Bikeway, so that DPW has sufficient funds for maintenance work. Mr. Tonkin will draft a letter to the Town Manager and circulate it for feedback.

The Committee will put this item on the agenda for next month.

Other Business

The Charlie Proctor memorial ride is scheduled for May 11th.

One committee member looked into vision zero, and why Arlington isn't part of this effort. There are a number of steps involved; we're doing some of them, but not very formally.

There are programs for tracking down stolen bikes. Anton Rapetov asks if the police department would be interested in learning more about them. Mr. Rapetov will present something next month. Registries like https://bikeindex.org are a good resource.