HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Aciton Form dated March 7, 1990 ' COUNCIL ACTION FORM r�
Item # /
Date: March 7, 1990
SUBJECT: RESTRICTING BICYCLE RIDING ON SIDEWALKS IN CAMPUSTOWN
BACKGROUND:
Council has requested that conditions be reviewed for restricting bicycle riding
on Welch Avenue in front of the Campustown businesses. On occasions,
bicycles are ridden on these sidewalks from Lincoln Way to Hunt Street which
makes it unsafe for pedestrians. Bicyclists riding on these sidewalks have the
potential of seriously injuring themselves and pedestrians walking to class and
exiting businesses. This potential for a serious injury is greatly increased
because of the many pedestrians using this sidewalk and it's steep slope.
The Municipal Code (Section 4.1) already makes it unlawful to ride a bicycle on
sidewalks along Main Street from Clark Avenue to Duff Avenue, and on Lincoln
Way from Hayward Avenue to Stanton Avenue. Sidewalks along Welch Avenue
could easily be included in this restriction due to the similar circumstances for
not mixing pedestrians and bicyclists in the area.
Signs would be posted along Welch Avenue designating this restriction.
Bicyclists would still be able to ride on the street which has adequate width to
accommodate both them and vehicles.
The Traffic Engineer met and reviewed this proposal with both the Campustown
Betterment Association and the Ames/ISU Bicycle Committee. Both of those
groups supported the restriction on Welch, as well as a similar restriction on
Hayward Avenue from Lincoln Way to Hunt Street.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Restrict bicycle riding on sidewalks by ordinance on Welch Avenue from
Lincoln Way to Knapp and on Hayward Avenue from Lincoln Way to Hunt.
2. Continue to allow bicycle riding on sidewalks on Welch Avenue from
Lincoln Way to Knapp and on Hayward Avenue from Lincoln Way to Hunt.
MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
It is recommended by the City Manager that the City Council adopt alternative
number 1 above and direct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance restrict-
ing bicycle riding on sidewalks on Welch Avenue from Lincoln Way to Knapp and
on Hayward Avenue from Lincoln Way to Hunt.
COUNCIL ACTION•
hinutes - Ames/ISU Bicycle Committee Page 2
_.February 14, 1990
IV. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Welch Avenue Bike Ordinance:
Sanderson reported he had contacted Cathy Brown at ISU Physical Plant and
the GSB office asking for their input on the proposed ordinance. No
comments were received and there was no representation at this meeting. A
motion passed to recommend to extend the prohibition of bikes from
sidewalks in the Campustown area to include the walks on both sides of
Welch from Lincoln Way to Knapp Street and the east sidewalk on Hayward
from Lincoln Way to Hunt Street. Scott Logan will communicate this
recommendation to the city manager for action by the city council.
B. Bike Registration Publicity:
Sanderson reminded the committee that it would need to work on publicity
for re-registration of bikes when the current licenses expire (July 1990).
Sanderson will check with ISU and GSB about a booth at the Union and other
possibilities. It was suggested that the flyer distributed with the city
utility bills be updated and re-distributed.
Staff should also be looking into getting the new stickers printed. One
complaint has been the size of the sticker is too large and therefore "too
ugly" for some bike owners who take great pride in the appearance of their
bikes. At the time the current stickers were printed, the committee
discussed that the sticker could be smaller and still contain the same
information while also saving printing costs.
In a related manner, Jones reported the city bike registration list from
the city data processing department, obtained for FCIB mailing, only
contained 3,016 registrations. This about a fourth or third of the number
that would be expected and if this represents the city data base it would
not be very useful for the police to recover stolen bikes. Jones will
follow with the city data processing department and will report to the
committee at the next meeting.
VI. NEXT REGULAR MEETING: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1990, 3:30 PM
VII. ADJOURNMENT: 5:05 PM.
Recorded,
Dennis L. Jo e