Good Evening,

I’m Carla Benka, a Pct 14 Town Meeting member and I’d like offer a few comments on agenda Item 10, the Bicycle Network Implementation Plan, specifically the Scope Outline for consultant services with Kittelson and Associates

Transparency and community engagement are frequently invoked as critical elements for educating the public and winning their support for a particular plan or project. However in reviewing the Scope Outline regarding the development of a Bicycle Network Implementation Plan, I see reference to project team meetings, meetings with Town staff and the Bicycle Advisory Committee, and up to two presentations to the Transportation Board. I don’t see mention of meetings with neighbors or neighborhoods, and although under Task 2 in the Scope of Services, the consultant is required to develop a Public Outreach Plan, the details of when, where, and how to promote outreach events are left up to Town staff.

Perhaps the recent and less than robust effort of the Transportation Division to inform and engage the public on upcoming proposed changes to Chestnut Hill Avenue will illustrate what I and others – see as a concern.

As you heard last week during public comment, at the beginning of March the Bicycle Advisory Committee held a public hearing on the plan to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements as part of a pavement treatment project for Chestnut Hill Avenue. Interestingly, the planning document discussed was called a Pavement Marking and Signage Plan, when, in fact, what is actually being proposed is far more than that. The hearing was intended to provide an opportunity for the Transportation Division to receive feedback from Committee members and from members of the public. Abutters apparently received notice of the hearing but Precinct 13 and 14 TMMs did not; neither did relevant neighborhood associations.

Even with only one hearing, essentially non-existent neighborhood notification, and less than an hour’s opportunity for public comment, there were many valid observations and objections made by the abutters and acknowledged by Town staff.

It would seem in this instance that appropriate standards for community outreach, transparency, and open processes have not been met with the Chestnut Hill Avenue improvement plan, but the Select Board now has an opportunity to ensure that a clear process for community input is in place prior to execution of the Bicycle Network Implementation Plan contract. Having such an explicit process to engage the community would increase the likelihood of Implementation Plan’s ultimate success.

Thank you.