Here are the notes I jotted down at the last Windsor Bicycling Committee meeting… if anyone has any questions or concerns, feel free to ask.
Chris Ryan- Ellie Johnson from Tourism Windsor Essex talk about the VIA Rail Bike Train- background- approached by Justin Lafontaine (Bike Train organizer) last November, VIA Bike Train offers a special rail car for bikes. June 17-20, July 29-Aug. 2 and possibly another date in September. They’ll arrive at the train station, bike to the Greenway, and then out to Point Pelee.
Bike Train Itinerary– 53 people originally signed up, but now only 32 bikes can be stored on the train. Meet and greet at train station, unload bikes, stay at Travelodge, breakfast on the Friday morning at a B&B along with a press conference. They’ll ride to the Greenway- have to watch for construction- police escort to trailhead. Fruit/water stand arranged on trail. They’ll stay at the Pelee Days Inn. Then ride back to Windsor on Saturday. Sunday they’ll leave Windsor Station back to Toronto. Major challenge is working around the construction. A request will come to the WBC to participate in the press conference, and to ride along with the group to the trail. This will be a good way to spotlight the WBC again, as well as show off the Greenway. When do they want the WBC to come out? 9:30am on Friday, for the breakfast at the B&B. They were impressed with the biking opportunities here in Windsor-Essex. Press conference at Union Station in Toronto as a send off. Their initiative is to have every VIA train become a bike train.
Steve Barrow (I think that’s his name) sends his regrets, he’ll talk about his topic at the April meeting.
Enviro Expo, April 16-18- buy t-shirts and hats for volunteers. $20 cost for hat and shirt. Or $8 for just a shirt? Sign up sheet for volunteers. Planning meeting on the 14th at noon. Need to decide on a design. Volume price might be available for shirts. Motion to purchase 20 shirts for $8 each. Passed. Good quality shirt? Probably not. Cap off the cost- tops $250. No room for a banner at the expo- but we’ll have space for brochures, etc. Maybe bring a bike.
Cyclist Accident Map– 09/2006-09/2009 – three or more accidents got a marker on the map. Tecumseh Road is the worst. Any improvements going to be made? Along Tecumseh, not likely. Map doesn’t indicate where the fault lies. 14 locations that are bad, and 43 individual accidents. Keep in mind these are only reported accidents. Should really talk more about upgrading BUMP to include Tecumseh Road. How else can we communicate the need for safety? Look into details and find out why exactly the accidents occur. Could be as simple as more signage. Might be less about infrastructure, and more about education. Get more info from Jen and then maybe have a dedicated meeting discussing solutions. Public Service Announcement- Alan will get quotes from three media companies. It would be great to get this info on the website.
New WBC Logo– Mike Long designed. More visible bike- yes. Speed bike? Need a more general looking bike. Different font? Include the website? We can always change it in the future. $50 honorarium to designer as thanks.
New WBC Banner– paid for, designer is just waiting for the logo. Text? “Be Safe, Be Seen.” “Share The Road, It’s The Law.” “Bicycles Belong.” “Bike To Work.” “Bike the Bridge.” List the benefits of Cycling? An image of a family cycling? Website address, for sure. Also have to get new stickers to replace the old design. Tristan will come up with a broad design and email everyone for approval.
The A-frame bike racks are reserved for Bike To The Fireworks- June 28th. Also reserved them for Art in the Park- June 5-6. Transport? Mark is offering his trailer.
Bike To Work update- event outline- pancake breakfast each morning (plus fruit, coffee, water) at five different locations across the city, 6am-9am. We’re got a volunteer to move the setup to each location, and to be ballot box guy. Xtreme Motions has given the use of their parking lot. ABC signs will be used at each location for two weeks in advance. June 7th at City Hall, media intro, councilors to make breakfast. Farmers Market on Saturday for the draw- June 12th. Ballots will only be given out at the breakfasts, in exchange for filling out a survey. Simplifying the event, since previous years have been stagnant. Internet promotion, bikewindsor.com, media release, Facebook event? Pre-made pancake batter, need a BBQ and grill. Chaz is going to deliver tenders to some bike shops- around $700 for two bikes (one will be donated). $1500 should be enough, even though $3000 has been allotted.
Jason Turpin lets us know this will be his last year on the WBC.
Bike The Bridge– Sunday, June 13th. Coming from Detroit. Last year, 60-70 cyclists. Alan will circulate info to the bike groups. Have to get your bike to Detroit. Crossing will be at 8-8:30am. Malden or Mic Mac park for a breakfast. Someone to cater the breakfast. From there, cyclists will split up- either cycle to Amherstburg or bike to Hiram Walker for a tour. Marty Gervais has agreed to give a presentation on the Rumrunners. Then head back downtown to Carousel on the River. Have to think about how to get Americans bikes back over the bridge. Maybe the truck barge, maybe the tunnel. Cost? Discounts for Canadians since they’re not providing a way for our bikes to get over there? Budget? $600. Maybe use the Bike To Work breakfast setup, since it’ll already be in the truck.
Howard Avenue construction– mimicking what BUMP recommends. Who dropped the ball on Walker Road? Dillon Construction made changes to the design without notifying us, we think. Off-road multi use trail all along Howard, on both sides. Any changes to the design by the construction company will be forwarded to Jen’s manager. These small sections of bike lanes are all part of a complete system, which is gradually being done.
Updating BUMP… status of that? There might be a more vague “active transportation study”, to parallel BUMP. $60-70,000 to update BUMP- what’s involved… why would it cost this much? Consultant fees, putting a report together, done by engineers. Should we fight to keep on with BUMP, or should we just go along with this new study? The new study may just give us what we’re looking for. There is already a County-Wide Active Transportation Study on the planning department’s website.
Re-Discover Your Bike– June 12th,. WFCU Centre, 9-11am. Same deal as last year. For cyclists of all ages. Bike Rodeo for the kids, bike giveaway, helmet giveaway and helmet fitting. Windsor Bike Patrol medics will do this. Bike safety checks- need a volunteer for this- Rick says he’ll help. Trail riding at Little River Park, Rockets will be leading group rides. Brochures, WBC banner, pamphlets, etc. Part of Road Safety Challenge, done by the Injury Prevention committee. No request for funds. Anyone that can help, send Karen an email.
Safe Kids Week 2010– through Bell- purchase helmets at discounted price. Mark will have more info on this later.
Next meeting talk about how to use our budget, also discuss promotional items.
Next meeting is Tuesday, April 20th, 6pm.
Anyone from the public is welcome to come and observe the meetings.
Thanks for all the info and for taking the time to attend and pass this on.