Transportation Committee (TC) Meeting Minutes, Monday, August 21, 2023 

Present: Mary Day Mordecai (chair), Barbara Watkins, Earl Horn, Ned Hulbert, Steve LaMears, Erin Hammerstedt, Don Scott.  Absent: Alison Weber 

Next meeting: 8:30 am Thursday Oct 5, 2023 

1) Welcome to Don Scott, our new Committee member and Planning Board representative 

2) Next Steps for Hancock Rd (see Recommendations to Improve Safety on Hancock Rd attachment) 

-Mary Day presented TC Recommendations at the Skatutakee Lake Assn annual meeting earlier this month.  These were well-received at the meeting and residents expressed appreciation for the TC attention to their concerns.

-Mary Day presented TC Recommendations to PB at its August meeting, which also made a few suggestions. She also presented the recommendations to the SB at a July meeting, where the TC was approved for continuing to do research.

-Steve noted he has been present on Hancock Road at Lake Skatutakee weekly several hours a week in past month, both driving and stopping in various locations to track speeds.

-Steve noted a Town Ordinance that states that vehicles are not allowed to park on road pavement.  Enforcement of parking violations applies to dirt and paved town roads.  Use common sense is necessary as there may be at times exceptional circumstances. TC needs to publicize in Common Threads – we will address this item later.

-The Boat Landing parking area is a problem, as big trailers and trucks cannot stay off the pavement.  Can more parking space be created?  Future question: HHI owns property; can the Town play a role in creating extra parking there?  Does TC need to research and make proposal? Needs further discussion.

-Painting of center dashed yellow lines on three sharp Hancock Rd curves – experimental to see if it helps.  Town would need to contract vendor.  Earl will research vendor and amount of striping in feet required.

-Brush clearing (3 ft in from road and 2-3 ft off ground) on non-lake side of road to improve driver sight lines, make safer pedestrian walking path, and ensure greater visibility for all modes of traffic.  Use Lake Assn Exec Committee to help us educate and prepare the Hancock Rd landowners.  TC will do a bit more research before moving forward with a recommendation.  Earl, Alison and Don will look at the road to come up with recommendations on where clearing needs to be done.

–Mary Day will ask Jeff Grosner, chair of the Lake Association, whether a volunteer group from the association could be organized to do brush clearing on a regular basis.  This could help to ensure that clearing is done in a way that it acceptable to residents, rather than asking the Town to do the work.

-Building up shoulders to the level of the pavement for safer walking: TC needs to wait for Road Crew to have time to do this. Postpone until next spring so that there is time to discuss with Town and Road Crew.

-Fencing on road built by property owners which is next to pavement and forces pedestrians to walk on the other side of road.  TC agrees this is on hold for later discussion.

-Signage: Steve found and shared with TC the 2015 Recommendations to Town on signage for Hancock Rd, which were never fully implemented.  TC is recommending:

– 3 speed limit signs in each direction, one in each direction to include a pedestrian warning.

            – 2 Boat Ramp signs; and Phase 2 (later): painting on road “Slow” (Earl will research)

-Pedestrian Guidelines. Ask Lake Assn to publicize pedestrian and bike safety:

-Pedestrians should walk single file when cars approach from either direction and step off road when cars are on their side of road (use common sense)

-Biking Guidelines.

-Bikes should ride single file.

-A Pedestrian Guidelines Board/Sign – is a later item for TC to address.

Website information: Mary Day will draft something for Skatutakee Lake Assn. website.

Education through Common Threads: The TC agreed to write an article for Common Threads next spring focused on road safety in the summer months.  We will also explore other means of public education.

-The TC agreed that making the recommendation to pedestrians to walk only on the lake side of the road could lead to legal difficulties.  It is better to ask pedestrians to use their own common sense about where it is safest to walk.

3) Steve commented on 22 days of speed data from Hancock Rd Radar in July (he sent to TC).

-This is a good start in data collecting but we cannot fully evaluate it until we check data from other direction.

-This is a clunky old unit – impact seems effective now (maybe we apply for a new radar next year).

-7000 cars and bikes were recorded in one direction over 22 days (July) – a lot of movement – seems a surprising amount!

-Continue to collect data and compare with new radar position (now in stealth mode from opposite direction for August traffic data).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TC to Jeff Grosner for his Lake Assn Executive meeting:

TC and Police Chief have been working on this over several meetings.  We need to go slow and build commitment for realistic next steps.  TC and Police Chief will propose an integrated plan for improving Hancock Rd safety to SB on 7/28.

We expect to encourage pedestrians on the road to consider these initial simple steps:

  • Walk on lake side of road only
  • Pedestrians should walk single file when vehicles approach from either direction
  • Pedestrians must yield to vehicles and step off road as needed

Hancock Road is an old road that has been widened over time. Both the number of houses and the volume of vehicle traffic, pedestrian and bicycle traffic has grown dramatically.  We believe that the road can be safely shared if all users accept and honor specific guidelines.  We need to educate everyone to use the road with safe guidelines.

On 7/28 TC and Police Chief will propose an integrated plan to SB to improve Hancock Road safety

Road Improvements:

  • At sharp curves in road, put solid yellow line or raised dots in middle of road to cause vehicles to slow down.
  • Do some brush clearing on the non-lake side of road at specific locations to improve long-distance sight lines so that vehicles can slow down more quickly – and pedestrians/bikers can step off the road for approaching vehicles, as needed.
  • Build up shoulders on the road’s lake-side where needed to improve safety for pedestrians/bicyclists.

More signage:

  • Erect Boat Ramp signs on either side of Boat Ramp.
  • Consider painting “SLOW” onto road surface in approach to boat ramp from each direction.
  • Add more 25 mph speed limit signs (3 in each direction is proposed: one at either end and one in middle of road –for east and west facing traffic). It is possible that one speed limit sign in each direction could be a solar operated radar that simply flashes red when a vehicle is exceeding the speed limit.
  • Two special pedestrian signs at either end of lake approach (noting pedestrians, congested area, curves, etc).
  • Consider adding some sort of board at either end of lake approach noting a set of simple guidelines for pedestrians.

Education

  • Work with Lake Association to educate drivers and pedestrians/bikers on specific guidelines for the road.
  • Run periodic articles in Common Threads on guidelines for Hancock Road each spring/summer season. due to its special constraints and safety challenges.