Bike Newton Membership Meeting--March 21

The Bike Newton General Meeting and Smart Cycling Clinic on March 21 was a huge success! 50+ attendees discussed how to make Bike Newton a more Bicycle Friendly Community. There were Aldermen, City officials, the Bike & Pedestrian Task Force, the Bike Newton Steering Committee, Newton Police, members of Bike Newton, and interested citizens.

Many arrived by bike and took advantage of the valet-attended bike parking.

As the meeting took shape, people gathered to discuss the proposals displayed around the room.


Lois

called the meeting to order,

and Bob Rooney, the City of Newton Chief Operating Officer

and John Siemiatkoski, President of the Board of Directors of MassBike and Board Member of the League of American Bicyclists

both addressed the group about the great potential for Newton as a bike-friendly community. Everyone divided into groups to discuss
Engineering,

Encouragement,

Education,

Enforcement,

and Evaluation and Planning.

Meanwhile, Steve Heinrichs of Bike Newton, a certified instructor for the League of American Bicyclists, led a dozen youth through their paces in a Smart Cycling workshop.

Group leaders reported back to everyone about the highlights of the group meetings. Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan put it well when he said his group, education, had the same chicken-egg problem as the rest of the groups: which comes first, education or bike lanes? There was a broad consensus among the breakout groups that instituting the Transportation Advisory Committee could get many bike-friendly projects moving.