Vibrant and Walkable Streets Committee

November 30 2017

7pm

1138 Hollins St

 

Meeting Minutes

 

Present

Christine Verdin

Nancy McCormick

Dan Rodenburg

Quincy Goldsmith

Kelleigh Eastman

Bill Marker

Edith Gilliard Canty

Danielle Peleaz

Mila Lewis

Donnell Nance

Scott Kashnow

JR Lee

Elizabeth Weber

Ryan Dorsey

Tayvon Paine

 

Complete Streets Presentation

Councilman Dorsey presented his proposed Complete Streets Presentation. The one page hand out of the legislation is attached below.

 

Key points of the presentation were:

  • Complete streets are safer for all types of travelers: pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and cars at all times of day
  • The complete streets legislation would require certain complete streets design guidelines to apply to all new projects
    • For example, the designed speed must match the posted speed–streets can’t be super wide but be intended to have a speed limit of 25 mph for example
  • Legislation would require transportation funding to prioritize historically red-lined, majority black neighborhoods and communities
  • Complete streets make the roads safer, and improve community job access, health and education, health, and commercial development
  • The legislation would require DOT to create and use design guidelines, based on national standards and best practices that are specifically designed for Baltimore
  • There would be a Complete Streets Coordinating Council that would review projects
  • There would be an open and transparent project selection process.

The Committee asked questions about and discussed the importance of prioritizing pedestrian traffic, how the ordinance would be enforced (would be law, city would have to follow or would be sued), whether there was institutional endorsements (wide range of endorsers, but hasn’t asked anchor institutions yet), how elements would be paid for (through transportation project money which is usually already out there). There is still a ways to go for the bill but the plan is for the bill to go to committee in the early summer.

 

The Committee voted to support the bill and sign on as an endorser and to recommend that the SWP Board do so.

 

Small Neighborhood Grants Fund

The Committee discussed the small neighborhood grants fund, and grant making requirements. They decided that partially funded projects would be acceptable if the partial funding was at least half, and made final edits to the requirements.

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