City of Houston Bicycle Advisory Committee met April 24

City of Houston Bicycle Advisory Committee met April 24.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order. Chair Tom Compson called the meeting to order at 2:34pm.

Roll Call:

Tom Compson, Chair (P)

Alejandro Perez, Vice Chair (A)

Tracy Alexander (A)

Leah Chambers (P)

Adam J. Williams (P)

Carl B. Salazar (A)

Joe Cutrufo (P)

Lisa Graiff (P)

Trevor Reichman (P)

Yuhayna Mahmud (A)

Nick Hellyar (A)

Ben Drews (P)

Amar Mohite (P)

Mike VanDusen (P)

Robin Holzer (P)

Veon McReynolds (A)

Ex-Officio Members:

Jennifer Ostlind (P)

Ian Hlavacek (P)

Patricc Fortiori (P)

Commander Yadira D. Estrada attended for HPD in lieu of Kristine Anthony Miller’s retirement.

Item 1: Director’s Report. Jennifer Ostlind gave the Director’s Report.

Monique Johnson has resigned her position as manager of the Transportation Planning Division. As the Planning Department Interim Director, Jennifer will attend BAC meetings going forward as the department’s ex-officio member. She’s working to bring the transportation team back up to capacity and hopes to fill vacancies in the next few months.

Item 2: Chair’s Report. Chair Tom Compson gave the Chair’s Report.

City of Houston

Bicycle Advisory Committee

Chair Compson shared the book Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road by James Longhurst, which discusses the history of bicycles on our roads and how the struggles and themes around bicycling have not changed much since earlier times. Of note: the precedent establishing bicycles as vehicles goes back to the Queen’s Court of England.

Item 3: Approval of January 2024 Minutes.

No changes recommended.

Motion: Holzer Second: Graiff Vote: Unanimous Abstain: None

Item 4: Public Comment.

Jacob Russell submitted a written comment regarding Federal HSIP projects in Houston.

Bryan Dotson spoke regarding Cullen Park Path and Piping Rock.

Ed Pettit spoke regarding issues at the Columbia Tap/McKinney St intersection.

Item 5: Vote for Vice Chair and Subcommittee Chairs

Committee action:

Table Vice Chair vote for July meeting.

Vote in favor of keeping current subcommittee chairs Joe Cutrufo (Infrastructure) and Leah Chambers (Education).

Motion: Holzer Second: Mohite Vote: Unanimous Abstain: None

Item 6: Vote: SBIF Requests for Cullen Park Path and Piping Rock. TABLED.

Item 7: Quarterly Updates

7A: Bikeway Fatalities and Serious Injuries.

- 2024 Fatality Report

o 1 fatality YTD

o 125 crashes involving bicyclists

7B: Bikeway Projects. All projects with designs that incorporate reducing motor vehicle lanes or on-street protected bike facilities are on hold, pending further review by the Mayor’s Administration.

Notable Updates:

- City of Houston:

o Fondren Rd: Advanced Funding Agreement between COH and

TxDOT was executed.

o Irvington and Patton Roundabout (includes bicycle facilities at intersection): Constructed is expected to complete in Spring 2024.

o Main St. shared use path: 90% design

- Houston Parks Board:

o Brays Bayou (Art Storey Park to Eldridge): construction complete.

o Law Park Connector (Mykawa to CenterPoint): construction complete.

8C: No Parking in the Bike Lane. Updates were received after the meeting and added to the post-meeting slides.

- As of 4/17/24:

o 288 citations issues (+58)

o $19,165 in fines collected (+$2,370)

o 31 completed trainings (+4)

o 26 new locations since last report

- Top/New Locations

o Top 3: 9100 Galveston Rd, 2300 Polk St, 900 Bastrop St

o New Locations (26): 2400 Woodhead St, 7100 Lyons Ave, 1200 Central St, 1800 Elysian St, 2500 Woodhead St, 300 Lamar St, 4000 Hardy Rd, 5100 Polk St, 1400 Cullen Blvd, 2700 Elysian St, 2900 Blodgett St, 2900 Elysian St, 2900 Hardy Rd, 3300 Hardy Rd, 3300 Taft St, 3500 Hutchins St, 3700 Lyons Ave, 3900 Austin St, 4000 Hutchins St, 4200 Lyons Ave, 4300 Hirsch Rd, 4700 Polk St, 4800 Elysian St, 600 McKee St, 6900 Lyons Ave, 7200 Lyons Ave

8D: Bike Friendly Drivers Training. New metric to tally number of City of Houston Employees who completed Bike Friendly Drivers Training.

- As of 4/22/24:

o 2,998 completed Bicycle Friendly Driver

o 3,255 watched the Sidetracked+ distracted driving training

Item 9: Open Forum

Additional Public Comments.

Ed Pettit shared additional events from Friends of Columbia Tap

Joy Roth spoke on partnering with corporations who are motivated to earn Bike Friendly Business Status

Tom Compson: Support for Bryan Dotson’s efforts, although there wasn’t an official BAC vote and encouraging others who support the projects. (Joe Cutrufo concurs).

Tom Compson: Is a later or different time better for BAC members to participate? Staff to ask whole BAC about moving to 2pm.

Item 10: Announcements

May is Bike Month!!

National Walk & Bike to School Day: May 8

Bike to Work Week: May 13-17

Bike to Work Day: May 17

Sign up for Love to Ride-Bike The Gulf and track your miles. Individuals and companies can register. Their smartphone app is available for iPhone and Android users.

Upcoming Events (Updated post-meeting)

- 4/25: Vogel Creek Bike Ride & Walk, 6pm, 7455 Maple Tree Drive

- 4/27: Taste of Alief, 10am-1pm, Leroy Crump Stadium, 12321 High Star Dr—Houston Public Works will have a display to gather public input on our Bissonnet Safe Streets project

- 4/30: Safe Streets for Texans Training, TxDOT Houston Headquarters

- 5/2: Texas Pedestrian Safety Forum, 9am, 816 Town & Country Blvd, Suite 210

- 5/3: Texas Vision Zero Summit, 9am, 911 Preston St

- 5/2: Spring Branch Trail Phase 4 Community Meeting POSTPONED

- 5/4-5: 3rd Annual Sugar Land Classic, Pawn Spring Pavilion, 15300 University Blvd, Sugar Land

- 5/11: Houston Art Bike Parade & Festival, 10am-1pm, Macgregor Park

- 5/11: 3rd Ward on Tap Festival, 10am-2pm, 3878 Nettleton St

- 5/11: Washington Ave Corridor Study Public Meeting (Save the Date)

- 5/16: NASA Bike to Work Day

- 5/16: TEI Planning + Design Bike to Work Ride

- 5/18: Bike-A-Palooza, 9am, Burroughs Park Pavilion, Tomball

- 5/18: Bands, Badges, and Bikes, Northshore Park, The Woodlands

Next Meetings

- Infrastructure Subcommittee: May 22, 2:30pm; John B. Raia Conference Room/MS Teams

- Education Subcommittee: June 26, 2:30pm; John B. Raia Conference Room/MS Teams

- Bicycle Advisory Committee: July 24, 2:30pm; Council Chambers in-person only Mhttps://houstonbikeplan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/BAC-Draft-Minutes_Apr2024.pdfeeting Adjourned at 4:01pm.