City of Chillicothe Bike Task Force met Aug. 8.
Here are the minutes provided by the task force:
Attendees:
Jeff Jenkins
Andy Ruhland
Troy Mitchell
Jeff Admire
Serena Page (TWM)
Notes
Guiding Principles:
Opened the meeting with our guiding principles. Troy mentioned the language around the word pedestrian and asked if we should give this any additional definition as we look to the types of grants we will be applying for. Serena offered to ask her team if the language will have any impact.
Ongoing City Alignment:
Discussed the need to continue alignment with the Public Works committee. As roads are being identified for resurfacing, we need to ensure we are aligned with the bike trail project. Requesting an opportunity to join their agenda to share our progress and discuss best ways to stay aligned.
Route Discussion:
Routes and priorities were discussed, as well as applicability to various grants (ITEP, Safe Routes to School, DNR). The focus of our conversation was to identify routes that would be A) applicable for this ITEP grant cycle and
B) within a similar type of budget as previously approved.
C) Dedicated pedestrian path (not paint/sharrows).
While the original gold route remains the top priority, given the constraints of land ownership, the focus was on what was within city control for the upcoming grant application.
Leveraging the filters of our original priorities, desire for a dedicated path, engineering feasibility (eg: Right of way), alignment with ITEP and potential cost, two key routes were identified.
1) A route that connects Shore Acres Park to the riverfront via 1st street
– Rather than leveraging 3rd street or 2nd street fully (railroad and right of way constraints for dedicated path), TWM recommended the use of first street as the primary method to connect to the river front.
2) A route from the riverfront to South School via Walnut
-This route would aid in connecting downtown and the riverfront across 4th street. Additionally, it would have a natural endpoint at South School that could be resumed when the school district is ready to proceed with the original gold route.
The members present agreed for TWM to focus on these two routes for further analysis as candidates for the ITEP grant due at the end of September (if there are any strong disagreements with this focus, please let me know immediately).
Next Steps:
TWM to refine their analysis with the areas in focus and identify a date for us to reconvene and review findings.
Again, big thanks to TWM and all of you as we continue to make forward progress….much hard work has gone into this and it is greatly appreciated!
Submitted by Jeff Admire
https://cms9files.revize.com/chillicothe/08.08.22%20bike%20trail%20min.pdf
