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Minutes - 06/20/1994 - Safety Pathway Committee• • 0 ORK BROOK SAFETY PATHWAY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF MEETING, JUNE 20, 1994 Committee Members: Heidi Huizenga John Hartmann Steve McShane* Connie Craig* Jill Fleishman* Tom Richardson* Cathy Giangrassi* Sue Walters* Ana Sisson Dale Durfey, Village of Oak Brook Tom Hawk, Village of Oak Brook Jon Sommer, Oak Brook Park District * Present 1. Minutes of the April 13, 1990 meeting were approved as submitted. 2. York Road Pathway: The public meeting planned for June 23, 1994 was discussed. The committee decided to take positions on the York Road pathway and the York Road pathway across Salt Creek. Enclosed is a copy of that position statement. 3. New projects for consideration: All members were requested to review pathway maintenance requirements, and new project proposals. Jill Fleishman and Steve McShane had surveyed the possibility of a safety lane along Madison Street, and the possibilities for the Spring Road pathway to connect with the Forest Preserve trail at Madison Street. This proposal will be sent to Bruce Kapff for his input. 4. Meeting notices: Future meetings planned: Wednesday July 20, Wednesday August 17, and Thursday September 15. Steve McShane Secretary • POSITION STATEMENT YORK ROAD PATH SOUTH OF 31ST STREET The Oak Brook Safety Pathway Committee members chose to live in Oak Brook because of its special amenities, including the beautifully landscaped large lots, the excellent homes, the open lands, the variety of shopping, and the ease of access to expressways. We wish to add another special amenity, a pedestrian/bike path linking all parts of the Village and connecting to other communities. We believe this would enrich the community, providing non - motorized transportation corridors for recreation, commuting, and safe travel of schoolchildren. This would help Oak Brook improve its already impressive reputation, and become a leader in the Western Suburbs in an area that is increasingly impacting people's decisions in housing purchases. With this amenity in mind, and in view of both the opportunity to get State funding support for the project and the considerable expenditures already made by the Village, the Committee strongly supports t h e • construction of a path along York road south of 31st street. The Committee has a general goal of suggesting and supporting ways to link existing portions of the path system within Oak Brook, so they can better connect subdivisions, facilities, and other communities. The area that would be served by this path currently has no path and therefore no safe access to the rest of the Oak Brook paths. The Committee has a specific duty from its authorizing ordinance: "To assist in obtaining required easements from private and corporate property owners for routing and building new pedestrian /bicycle paths." It is through this duty that the Committee has pursued contacts with the neighbors along York Road to obtain their support for the York Road Path. The Oak Brook Safety Pathway Committee has no objection to revising the plans for the York Road Path to help meet some of the concerns of the adjacent residents as they expressed • them in an informal meeting on March 16th. . These revisions may include: 1) relocating the paths as close as possible to the existing road, therefore reducing the esthetic and landscaping impact of the paths, and 2) relocating paths for the least impact on existing trees and bushes. However, there are guidelines from the Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials which impact on the design of the Path. From page 24 of the Guide " A wide separation between a bicycle path and adjacent highway is desirable to confirm to both the bicyclist and the motorist that the bicycle path functions as an independent highway for bicycles. When this is not possible and the distance between the edge of the roadway and the bicycle path is less than S feet, a suitable physical divider may be considered. Such dividers serve both to prevent bicyclists from making unwanted movements between the path and highway shoulder and to reinforce the concept that the bicycle path is an independent facility. Where used, the divider should be a minimum of 4.5 feet high, to prevent bicyclists from toppling over it, and should be designed so that it does not become an obstruction itself. " This would appear to preclude putting the path immediately adjacent to the road without providing a barrier. Other bicycle authorities from Chicago indicate the possibility of putting the path closer, if it is one -way. This would require measures to enforce one - way use. In conclusion, we believe the path along York Road will be an excellent asset to Oak Brook. It should be completed with design revisions which minimize the impact on the residents, while maintaining safety considerations. • • POSITION STATEMENT YORK ROAD BRIDGE The Oak Brook Safety Pathway Committee supports the minimum necessary width of five (5) feet each for two single (one -way) paths on the York Road Bridge. This width meets the guidelines listed in the Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in August 1991. This width would allow the paths to be constructed with the least impact on the surrounding area while permitting safe access for pedestrians and bicyclists • traveling both North and South. This recommendation is based on the assumption that effective measures can be taken to assure one -way operation.