St. Paul Bicycle Coalition Meeting Notes December 13, 2016 Davis Court in Markim Hall @Macalester College
We had a very high turn out for our December 13th meeting with close to 40 people, some of whom showed up for the first time and many of whom who have been involved in the past and who have been long time participants in St Paul bicycling. There were many car-free bicyclists in the crowd. We did a round of introductions followed by a presentation by Bill Dermody, the lead transportation planner for the City who provided an update on our comprehensive plan. Bill gave a brief overview of the plan and then He asked the audience to name one vision they have for St. Paul Bicycle Planning.
Here are some of the overarching themes from that request, as well as the introductions that I recorded. Some comments might seem obvious, but all seem worth mentioning.
🚲 Desire for new bike paths, especially downtown
🚲 Hear more about what street projects are priorities and get more people to show up for these meetings.
🚲 Turn out a greater diversity of bike activists at these meetings
🚲 Support efforts to make biking easier and safer. Many people, especially regular bicycle commuters, had issues with the safety on Summit Avenue.
🚲 Create a better route from St. Paul to Bloomington
🚲 Get more kids getting into cycling
🚲 Engage more diverse people to advocacy meetings and to participate in bicycling
🚲 People want better commuter street connections that make sense
🚲 Get Eagen to be a Bike Friendly Community
🚲 Grow the movement on the east side and implement better routes to 3M
🚲 Create a better connection between the bicycle coalition and the St. Paul Women on bikes program.
🚲 Normalize biking and make sure people are seen on bikes
🚲 Keep putting pressure on the development of the Grand Round and keep that vision.
Jason, a police officer mentioned his interest in safety, setting rules, and how to better cooperate. He wants to address complaints on both sides
Transportation planner Reuben Collins expressed that he wants the bicycle coalition to function as a resource to provide the student with the best information to be effective
Dorian, the ED of the Minnesota Bicycle Alliance has a database that can target council districts. He wants to develop better connections w neighborhoods
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday January 31st in the Davis Court at 6:30 pm. We will prioritize the above issues and discuss the possibility of creating committees to regularly meet and help accomplish these goals. It has been proposed that the Bicycle Coalition as a whole meet on a quarterly basis, with the prospect of adding some fun rides and bicycle tours of upcoming projects.
Please feel free to send us your thoughts and suggestions for items to add to the agenda, including updates on street projects.
For those of you who missed the meeting please join us next time! All the best,
Margot and Ethan