I was invited to describe the experience with the Minuteman Bikeway in Lexington.
Following my talk, Craig Della Penna gave an excellent slide-show on his long experience with Rails-to-Trails. His website: http://www.craigdp.com/ Craig has a frequent newsletter that
I encourage you to subscribe, identified on the website.
Most of this information is on my website:
The topics I included were mostly taken from my website:
http://www.hbingham.com/lexbike/index.htm
1. Betty Eddison volunteer recognition -- in the early 90's one day more than 2000 volunteers were recognized on the Lexington Green. Betty said: "Without our volunteers, Lexington would not be the kind of town it is. It's as simple as that," she said. That day more than 2,000 volunteers were recognized. I cherish the medallion I received that day.
2. Jack Eddison Tribute -- the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway , the 500th rails-to-trails path.
3. Bicycle Routes in Lexington: 14 routes, 82 miles of convenient ways to bicycle within Lexington. Most have one end the town border on a road that enters Lexington. Many significant landmarks are identified on these routes.
4. Bicycling Organizations in surrounding Communities
5. There are 15 intersections that provide access to the Bikeway. These are not hazardous, as they are suitably marked. Most have crossing gates that are normally locked -- Emergency vehicles can open the locks.
6. Some beautification plantings of flowers in various places along the >bikeway have been encouraged.
7. Bicycle User's Impact on Lexington Business has been positive.
8. Boardwalks and Bridge Crossings have encouraged safe access to schools. Safe Routes to Schools -- we've done about 10 wetlands crossings:
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Proposed changes at 201 Bedford Street
If approved by Lexington’s voters, the reconstruction of the DPW buildings and the landscaping that is planned will be a very welcome change for the many users of the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. The bikeway abuts the DPW property for several hundred yards near Bedford Street and the view of roadway equipment and piles of lumber and road materials has never been a desirable image for the millions that use this very popular trail every year. We expect that the Bikeway will have even more use in future years, both from local people and from the tourists of a new age who may well choose bicycling or walking as a better way to enjoy the history and natural beauty of this region. It is therefore important that public buildings and grounds along this route reflect the care and pride we all take in our town’s appearance. From what we on the bicycle committee have seen of the Bio Engineering plans, this visual problem has been addressed with care. The placement of the garage doors on the SW side of the main building and the screening by fences and by tree plantings along the property line will dramatically improve the view from the Bikeway and reduce noise.
Equally important, the new design includes an entry path from the Bikeway onto the DPW grounds. There will be a drinking fountain along this path, toilet facilities on site for public use and a grassy spot for the traveler to rest his or her weary bones. These facilities will compliment those in the center, allowing families with small children to better plan their day. There will be about 20 parking spaces for cars, normally used for DPW business but available for public use on weekends.
The new facility also encourages DPW employees to commute to and from work by providing bicycle storage and shower facilities on site. These amenities will have the practical advantage for supervisors who could bicycle to meetings in the town center or perhaps even to the DPW construction sites around town, saving them the nuisance of driving and parking cars. Some of our Selectmen presently walk or bicycle whenever possible. Making it possible for town employees to do the same would set a further example to all that Lexington is serious about both saving energy and promoting the good health of its people.
Jerry Van Hook
89 Meriam Street
Equally important, the new design includes an entry path from the Bikeway onto the DPW grounds. There will be a drinking fountain along this path, toilet facilities on site for public use and a grassy spot for the traveler to rest his or her weary bones. These facilities will compliment those in the center, allowing families with small children to better plan their day. There will be about 20 parking spaces for cars, normally used for DPW business but available for public use on weekends.
The new facility also encourages DPW employees to commute to and from work by providing bicycle storage and shower facilities on site. These amenities will have the practical advantage for supervisors who could bicycle to meetings in the town center or perhaps even to the DPW construction sites around town, saving them the nuisance of driving and parking cars. Some of our Selectmen presently walk or bicycle whenever possible. Making it possible for town employees to do the same would set a further example to all that Lexington is serious about both saving energy and promoting the good health of its people.
Jerry Van Hook
89 Meriam Street
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Lexington Bikepath Improvements
By Mike Tabaczynski
On a cold day in October Mike Tabaczynski, Marita Hartshorn, Rich Spencer, David Pinsonneault, and Bill Hadley road the entire length of the Lexington portion of the Minuteman bike way to identify places that need repair. We are already seeing some results from our efforts: namely new caps on bollards and new STOP signs at road crossings. The sides of the bike path in Lexington Center were relandscaped in the spring greatly improving the center ambiance. Numerous information and safety signs still need to be replaced. We look forward to partial repaving and installation of bio-barriers in the spring.
On a cold day in October Mike Tabaczynski, Marita Hartshorn, Rich Spencer, David Pinsonneault, and Bill Hadley road the entire length of the Lexington portion of the Minuteman bike way to identify places that need repair. We are already seeing some results from our efforts: namely new caps on bollards and new STOP signs at road crossings. The sides of the bike path in Lexington Center were relandscaped in the spring greatly improving the center ambiance. Numerous information and safety signs still need to be replaced. We look forward to partial repaving and installation of bio-barriers in the spring.
Bikes Not Bombs
By Marita Hartshorn
While driving along Lexington Streets on trash day my wandering eyes often spot discarded bicycles on the side of the road. If only these people knew about Bikes Not Bombs they could turn their trash into a useful means of transportation for kids in Boston or South Africa or Ghana or El Salvador or even New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Boston students can become proud owners of shiny like-new bikes with fully working components.
To earn a bike, students come three times a week for five weeks and learn how to refurbish old bikes, to ride safely, to gain environmental awareness, and to live healthy.
In 15 years of operation, Bikes Not Bombs have shipped 24,909 bikes internationally. Bikes Not Bombs accepts children's, off-road, hybrid, mountain, and touring bikes which are rust free. They do not accept wheel size smaller than 20 inches. To learn more about donating a bike or bike related items or other opportunities at Bikes Not Bombs, visit their website at www.BikesNotBombs.org or call them at 617-442-0004. Arlington has the closest drop off point for those unable to drive to Jamaica Plain.
While driving along Lexington Streets on trash day my wandering eyes often spot discarded bicycles on the side of the road. If only these people knew about Bikes Not Bombs they could turn their trash into a useful means of transportation for kids in Boston or South Africa or Ghana or El Salvador or even New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Boston students can become proud owners of shiny like-new bikes with fully working components.
To earn a bike, students come three times a week for five weeks and learn how to refurbish old bikes, to ride safely, to gain environmental awareness, and to live healthy.
In 15 years of operation, Bikes Not Bombs have shipped 24,909 bikes internationally. Bikes Not Bombs accepts children's, off-road, hybrid, mountain, and touring bikes which are rust free. They do not accept wheel size smaller than 20 inches. To learn more about donating a bike or bike related items or other opportunities at Bikes Not Bombs, visit their website at www.BikesNotBombs.org or call them at 617-442-0004. Arlington has the closest drop off point for those unable to drive to Jamaica Plain.
Sidewalk Use In Lexington
By Jerry Van Hook
It is perhaps not surprising that bicycling enthusiasts would also want to promote better walking conditions in Lexington. After all, both are human-powered activities, good for our health, good for the environment, and good for the social benefits of being able to pause at any time to chat with friends and neighbors along the way.
Although the interest in promoting walking improvements had these logical roots, there were practical problems to its implementation. In 2002 when bicycle committee members began to talk seriously about safe walking routes in Lexington, we asked the then town manager Rick White for his opinion. He pointed out that, however desirable the objective, it was not within the charter of either the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) or the Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway (FOMB) organization to take on such a project. A committee targeted specifically to improvements in sidewalks and walking paths would be in a better position to deal with the more controversial issues that araise.
This was good advice and we embraced it with enthusiasm. We first determined whether the Town had any current information on existing sidewalks. Boston Edison had some data as did the Town DPW, but it was incomplete. Members of the FOMB decided to make a study of every street in the town, usually on bicycle with maps and clipboards, recording those street segments with no sidewalks, those with a sidewalk on one side, and those with sidewalks on both sides. While this inventory was in progress, we learned that the federal government was putting forward a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiative which emphasized walking to school with parental supervision, particularly at the elementary school level. This seemed the best way forward since the children would benefit at an early age and the parents would also be encouraged to participate. Taking the completed sidewalk map, we marked the location of the six elementary schools in Lexington and superimposed circles of half mile radius as a reasonable walking distance. As part of this exercise we also obtained data on the school busing districts in 2003 and marked this on our map as an indication of the residential areas from which students and parents could walk. Beyond this radius it was expected that most students would be bussed to school.
With two middle schools and one high school in town, the routes these older children would take would depend on busing or by the alternate use of bicycles. It was assumed that roadway routes for bicyclists would generally connect with the Minuteman Bikeway and other off road paths from low traffic-density roads in the individual neighborhoods.
As the sidewalk inventory and SRTS programs evolved, it became even more evident that a separate sidewalk committee would be a better vehicle for these issues. Since the FOMB had several members that were also involved in stewardship of conservation lands throughout town, many of which were adjacent to schools, it was natural to focus on the less controversial task of improving walking paths through conservation land to enhance the access to all schools and to public spaces throughout Lexington. This program, described elsewhere in the Newsletter, is strong and ongoing under the leadership of bicycle committee member Mike Tabaczinsky and his volunteers.
The Lexington Planning Board under Glen Garber was the first to use the information gathered by the FOMB on walking and bicycling routes. This resulted in the publication in 2004 of the report "THE LEXINGTON WE WANT" which incorporated the sidewalk survey and the existing bike paths and recommended low-traffic roadways for bicyclist use in this town. The Selectmen had been giving thought to creating a Lexington Sidewalk Committee (LSC) and in the Spring of 2005 the committee was formed. Its charter was to be a systematic evaluation of walking conditions and a plan for improvements which would be ongoing over the years. This LSC would take on as an early task a program fostering SRTS at the elementary schools, thereafter expanding to all the schools. Walking to centers of commerce and public gathering would also be promoted and the issues on sidewalk construction and maintenance would be addressed. The present writer was appointed as a member of the LSC and regularly reports on their activities at the bicycle committee meetings. Our committees are justly proud of their part in laying the groundwork on walking conditions in Lexington and in their continuing involvement in bringing better conditions for these two alternatives to the community.
Jerry is a member of Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway (FOMB) and the Lexington Sidewalk Committee (LSC)
It is perhaps not surprising that bicycling enthusiasts would also want to promote better walking conditions in Lexington. After all, both are human-powered activities, good for our health, good for the environment, and good for the social benefits of being able to pause at any time to chat with friends and neighbors along the way.
Although the interest in promoting walking improvements had these logical roots, there were practical problems to its implementation. In 2002 when bicycle committee members began to talk seriously about safe walking routes in Lexington, we asked the then town manager Rick White for his opinion. He pointed out that, however desirable the objective, it was not within the charter of either the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) or the Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway (FOMB) organization to take on such a project. A committee targeted specifically to improvements in sidewalks and walking paths would be in a better position to deal with the more controversial issues that araise.
This was good advice and we embraced it with enthusiasm. We first determined whether the Town had any current information on existing sidewalks. Boston Edison had some data as did the Town DPW, but it was incomplete. Members of the FOMB decided to make a study of every street in the town, usually on bicycle with maps and clipboards, recording those street segments with no sidewalks, those with a sidewalk on one side, and those with sidewalks on both sides. While this inventory was in progress, we learned that the federal government was putting forward a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) initiative which emphasized walking to school with parental supervision, particularly at the elementary school level. This seemed the best way forward since the children would benefit at an early age and the parents would also be encouraged to participate. Taking the completed sidewalk map, we marked the location of the six elementary schools in Lexington and superimposed circles of half mile radius as a reasonable walking distance. As part of this exercise we also obtained data on the school busing districts in 2003 and marked this on our map as an indication of the residential areas from which students and parents could walk. Beyond this radius it was expected that most students would be bussed to school.
With two middle schools and one high school in town, the routes these older children would take would depend on busing or by the alternate use of bicycles. It was assumed that roadway routes for bicyclists would generally connect with the Minuteman Bikeway and other off road paths from low traffic-density roads in the individual neighborhoods.
As the sidewalk inventory and SRTS programs evolved, it became even more evident that a separate sidewalk committee would be a better vehicle for these issues. Since the FOMB had several members that were also involved in stewardship of conservation lands throughout town, many of which were adjacent to schools, it was natural to focus on the less controversial task of improving walking paths through conservation land to enhance the access to all schools and to public spaces throughout Lexington. This program, described elsewhere in the Newsletter, is strong and ongoing under the leadership of bicycle committee member Mike Tabaczinsky and his volunteers.
The Lexington Planning Board under Glen Garber was the first to use the information gathered by the FOMB on walking and bicycling routes. This resulted in the publication in 2004 of the report "THE LEXINGTON WE WANT" which incorporated the sidewalk survey and the existing bike paths and recommended low-traffic roadways for bicyclist use in this town. The Selectmen had been giving thought to creating a Lexington Sidewalk Committee (LSC) and in the Spring of 2005 the committee was formed. Its charter was to be a systematic evaluation of walking conditions and a plan for improvements which would be ongoing over the years. This LSC would take on as an early task a program fostering SRTS at the elementary schools, thereafter expanding to all the schools. Walking to centers of commerce and public gathering would also be promoted and the issues on sidewalk construction and maintenance would be addressed. The present writer was appointed as a member of the LSC and regularly reports on their activities at the bicycle committee meetings. Our committees are justly proud of their part in laying the groundwork on walking conditions in Lexington and in their continuing involvement in bringing better conditions for these two alternatives to the community.
Jerry is a member of Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway (FOMB) and the Lexington Sidewalk Committee (LSC)
Bicycling and Walking in Lexington
By Jerry Van Hook
Since biking and walking have so much in common as healthful and enjoyable ways of getting about, it is perhaps no surprise that bicycle committee members would be interested in improving conditions for walking as well a bicycling in Lexington. Since the Minuteman Bikeway was officially opened in 1992, the number of walkers and joggers has almost equalled the numbers of those on wheels along the five miles of pathway, apart from traffic noise and pollution and yet passing near the Town center for those combining local errands with recreation.
Not everyone lives adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway and the other pathways dedicated to bicycling and walking in town. The bike committee was therefore soon involved in developing maps showing a network of recommended low-traffic roads desirable for cycling to compliment the convenience and pleasure of riding and walking along the Minuteman. As we worked on these maps, it became evident that bicycling should not be the only focus, that walking routes were just as important, and that we were lacking information on the existence or nonexistence of sidewalks in the higher population density areas in our town.
Since biking and walking have so much in common as healthful and enjoyable ways of getting about, it is perhaps no surprise that bicycle committee members would be interested in improving conditions for walking as well a bicycling in Lexington. Since the Minuteman Bikeway was officially opened in 1992, the number of walkers and joggers has almost equalled the numbers of those on wheels along the five miles of pathway, apart from traffic noise and pollution and yet passing near the Town center for those combining local errands with recreation.
Not everyone lives adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway and the other pathways dedicated to bicycling and walking in town. The bike committee was therefore soon involved in developing maps showing a network of recommended low-traffic roads desirable for cycling to compliment the convenience and pleasure of riding and walking along the Minuteman. As we worked on these maps, it became evident that bicycling should not be the only focus, that walking routes were just as important, and that we were lacking information on the existence or nonexistence of sidewalks in the higher population density areas in our town.
Flowers Along the Minuteman Bikeway
By Rich Spencer
In many ways the verges of the Minuteman Trail are ideal for wildflowers. Sunlight, poor soil and open areas as found along the trail are conducive to the growth and propagation of wildflowers. These wildflowers prosper without fertilizer, without weeding, and love benign neglect.
In many ways the verges of the Minuteman Trail are ideal for wildflowers. Sunlight, poor soil and open areas as found along the trail are conducive to the growth and propagation of wildflowers. These wildflowers prosper without fertilizer, without weeding, and love benign neglect.
Early spring brings such blossoms as Glory-of-the-Snow and Violets while autumn shows a wide variety of Asters. In between an ever changing scene of colorful flowers can be seen.
More than 100 different wildflowers grow along the trail. Some of these are called weeds, some are invasives, and some are escapees from cultivated gardens. All of them add color and texture to the trail.
- Asiatic Day flower
- Beggarweed
- Blue Vervain
- Bouncing Bet
- Cuckoo Flower
- Celandine
- Crown Vetch
- Dame's Rocket
- Evening Primrose
- Goatsbeard
- Hawkweed (many varieties)
- Harebell
- Jewelweed
- Lily-of-the-Valley
- Morning Glory
- New England Aster
- Ragged Robin
- Spiderwort
- Tansy Wild Geranium
- Yarrow
This list represents less than one-fourth of the wildflowers that can be found along the trail and does not include the many flowering trees, shrubs and bushes also found along the trail.
My favorites include Beggarweed, Ragged Robin, and Spiderwort. If you have a favorite New England wildflower it is quite likely you could find it growing somewhere along the trail.
Welcome
Welcome to the Friends of the Lexington Bikeway Blog!
This blog is for the Lexington Massachuetts cycling community. Many of the subscribers and publishers of this blog are actively involved in support, planning and recommendations for biking and other recreational activities on the Minuteman and are members of "The Friends of Lexington Bikeways" and the official "Town of Lexington Bike Advisory Committee".
If you look to the right, you can see how to subscribe to this blog to receive it via ordinary email.
If you wish to submit something to this blog, please mail it to: email:aslexington.folb@blogger.com। All posts and comments are moderated to make sure this blog is used as intended and in an appropriate manner.
We hope you enjoy this reading this blog and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
This blog is for the Lexington Massachuetts cycling community. Many of the subscribers and publishers of this blog are actively involved in support, planning and recommendations for biking and other recreational activities on the Minuteman and are members of "The Friends of Lexington Bikeways" and the official "Town of Lexington Bike Advisory Committee".
If you look to the right, you can see how to subscribe to this blog to receive it via ordinary email.
If you wish to submit something to this blog, please mail it to: email:aslexington.folb@blogger.com। All posts and comments are moderated to make sure this blog is used as intended and in an appropriate manner.
We hope you enjoy this reading this blog and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
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