##VIDEO ID:EMUcZF_XcyQ## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e and I okay everyone we're going to go ahead and get started officially open up the December 2024 traffic and parking commission public meeting just a reminder if anyone's going to speak just to sign in we have a signning sheet right over here um first up approval of the minutes from the November 2024 meeting motion to table table second it all in favor table am minutes so make the motion first motion has been motion to table I'll second second all in favor I thank you okay next up we're actually going to go to number four communication November 2024 from Council Leo Robinson proposing regulations for bicycles and electric scooters go ahead good evening everyone uh for the record my name is Peter Christopher uh I am assistant city solicitor for the city um I worked with uh counselor Robinson to draft this proposed regulation for the traffic and parking commission um um this was raised through the council as an issue something that they wanted to focus on um you know curbing I guess erratic use of electric scooters and uh bicycles um in areas uh highly densed areas around the city um so you'll read through the proposal that um we came up with and really um you'll see that there two things that we're really trying to hit on on this is is uh a Crackdown on multiple people riding on the scooters at one time and also um riding in highly dense areas in business districts specifically um there's a lot I think that uh people raised in the meeting that we had with the police department including the uh the chair and uh Sergeant Chung um that were things that were already on the books uh for in State statutes uh that really the difficulty is is is where you're uh enforcing these these things um most of what we see in the complaints that uh the council had raised are things that are already illegal um but what this will do is give um is one make it explicit that there are some things that we don't want to see here in the city um and there are other municipalities across the state that have adopted similar uh kinds of uh regulations and also will uh provide a straightforward path for the municipality to make it a little bit more clear on how we are able to enforce these things so the way that this will work is is that the uh it really puts it up to the commission to say this is something that we'd like to see and then the council will pass it um one thing that I reserved to the the traffic and packing Commission in this uh one thing that that we as a group did was uh reserve the rights of this commission to uh to enumerate the areas of the city that would be uh designated a business district and thus a place where you shouldn't be riding these motor uh the scooters and bicycles on the sidewalk um so that that would be in your discretion be something that you could update at any time um but it'd be something that um at the end of the day would would be yours so um that's really what it is uh if anybody has any questions I'm more than happy to take them um but this is the proposal that the city council um I guess encouraged your passage of and um you can do what you will with it I um am more than happy to entertain any changes or anything like that that you might have um or take questions the um if people are using the scooters as a way to commute say the jobs a lowcost way to commute and they have to go through a business district or to a business district how does this affect a person's ability to have lowcost personal Transportation so as a person who rides a motorized scooter himself um I would simply get off the scooter and walk it on the sidewalk um you know so this wouldn't there are already regulations state regulations for how you would be riding on on public ways and whatnot but what we're saying here is that there's areas of the city that would be designated by your uh commission where you could uh you know Dismount and walk along a sidewalk if that was what you need needed to do but you could still be operating it in the way in the public way the same way that you do today are there publicly recognizable signs that would show the limitations of using a scooter in that area or we do have to invent a new sign so the regulation proposes signs um but the signs would have to be placed up there are no signs right now is there a standard sign that's the question or do you have to create a new type of sign that people might not recognize that I know of um I would Envision that it would be uh you know business districts um all motorized scooter riders or bicyclists uh are required to Dismount to be on this I I'm sure you could think of a better way of saying that but that's essentially what the sign would put uh put these individuals on notice of are you required to wear a helmet if you ride a scooter that's probably I I would defer that question to the chair um I don't know that off the top of my head yeah definitely definitely I think that the I think that the rule is actually if you're 16 and under you're required to wear a helmet I think that we should review that a little further um and my only comment and I'm obviously a personal you know advocate for wearing your helmet when you're operating any type of motorized vehicle bicycle but Amendment nine um would uh would require or would would create an enforcement option for any person operating or riding a pass as pass operating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle or electric scooter to must wear a helmet I think that that could that's maybe an overreach and it also May complicate the ridership of folks that use the blue bike system because those are not always um paired with a helmet unless you bring it yourself Y and I am again I think wearing a helmet is super important but I think that I would strike that and I think it's an overreach and I would fall back on whatever the ruling is in the Massachusetts state law which I believe is that if you're 16 and younger you must wear a helmet but otherwise it is optional yep and that's certainly a prerogative to do so or the commission's prerogative to do so can I how is this going to be enforced it would be enforced through um the the section of the law is chapter 40 section 21d but it would be enforced by the police department and so what I mean people because the person's already gone so I mean no we talked about this a lot uh in drafting it it certainly isn't I'm not an expert on this type of enforcement um but that is certainly the challenge I I I think and probably the most daunting task in uh getting compliance here I think the chair would agree with me because like like I said most of the things that we've received complaints on are already illegal are we meant to designate those business districts tonight or okay maybe we no you you can do it you could do it I've written it broadly enough um so that that could be done kind of um not you don't want to say that you're doing it as we're going along but you'd have the ability to make a motion in a meeting and say you know this is an area that maybe we didn't think of at a previous time um I'd like it to be considered for to be designated a business district so that uh so that you know it it could be flexible um in that regard so no it doesn't have to be done tonight um and like you said I think you bring up a good a a good point about the helmet and you know you can take as much time as you like um so as as of right now it actually is you have to wear a Department of Transportation like standard issued helmet all Riders all passengers so that rate there if these people operating the scooters don't have one it gives the police something that we can stop them for is is that for is that for MO is that for a certain class just all scooters all does that apply to bicycles bicycles as well I believe standard bicycles I think we should review that a little bit further cuz I I would be really surprised that blue bikes could operate their system without providing helmets if that was the massachusett state law so we should probably review that yeah I think maybe for certain classes a helmet is required like if you're on a motorcycle if you're on a moped if you're on but this is kind of what this is getting at is like there is this gray area I think with maybe even motorized or electrically assisted bikes like do they require a helmet or not um so I think that that should be reviewed first and I think that oh um so designating a business district that would just be as it relates to this not like we're not creating new business districts in in Chelsea like designation like zoning or even like Cally okay no so the way I've seen this done in other communities some people have said all sidewalks on this street from this street to this street um I was actually just recently looking at cambridge's uh uh the way that they've done this they'll say things like Inman Square Porter Square um it's a little bit more colloquial um and we you would be free to do that as well I think you know the more Precision you get on this uh you know probably the better but at the end of the day I think the spirit of it is is you know you don't want to have um you know people traveling on at high speeds on sidewalks is really what you're trying to get at um h&cd uh could take that on to at least create a list of what we would think would be pertinent business district or neighborhood areas um and we could give sort of boundaries for those as well if they don't already exist so yeah I guess I'll let other people speak and then I would be ready to make a motion would these uh same rules you want to create apply to bicycles yeah so so this the the way that I drafted this was in a lot of ways to broaden the section that we had for regulations on bicycles and also apply them to motorized scooters um and that and you'll see that in in the draft so I expanded the definition of I think it was non-motorized uh transportation conveyances we changed that to personal um Mobility um so yeah it that that was sort of the idea was that our ordinances didn't really account for a lot of the motorized uh scooters that were that were coming out and so this kind of updated it to say well if we have rules for for bicyclists a lot of those are also should also should apply to uh the motorized scooters as well can I just so there are one whe scooters at the that be in like the ones that people stand on you may have found a loophole okay and then the other question I have is I what is a motorized wheelchair I mean is it somebody that somebody deems know I wanted to be specific in this that so the the state law that we track okay um in in this in this regulation this draft regulation uh specifically says that those types of wheelchairs are not included so the state law that defines what these um what these scooters are are specifically taken out and so so would not yeah so like the ones that some people ride in like supermarkets and stuff like that exactly you you those would not apply here but the one whe ones those are the ones are scary exactly and I don't know do it I'm just gonna try any two I I didn't think of the one wheeled scooter that might right by you so that might be something that we could put in or try to uh try to encapsulate here as well because I I do see those around occasionally too I would make a motion to table this and between now and the next meeting legal can take a look at the helmet requirement as it relates to bicycle and potentially looping in the electric um scooters hcd can look at business districts for design designation purposes under this this new rule um and traffic and parking commission members can generally review in their own Leisure and bring back comments to next meeting sounds good to me second all in favor I I I thank you thank you everybody have a nice night okay we have a handicap application November 18th from Anna Hernandez 28 ever Avenue there are no handicaps at ever Avenue just state your name for the record okay this is my first time and she's not sure how this works um no um okay uh so the one who has a disability as her daughter okay uh so um brain injury okay she had brain injury okay so okay uh so she's saying this is hard for me to translate it uh but she saying that her daughter has difficulty walking and um she either needs to walk with someone or really really slow um her feet are somewhat the form since there's no other handicap I would just motion to approve okay uh [Music] so okay have a second on that I'll second okay she's saying thank you thank you okay who second all in favor I thank you okay communication November 20th from Joel Guerrero requesting the commission to consider implementing a delayed light or left turn arrow at the marginal in Pearl Street intersection so h&cd and DPW have reviewed this request for those that are not familiar with the intersection of Pearl and Marginal Street several intersections along Williams Street and Marginal Street Marginal Street turns into Williams Street have been modernized by a bottleneck reduction Grant so that's meant to deal with traffic in and around the city and along those roadways there are been great efficiencies realized at those intersections unfortunately one of the negative consequences of that implementation is that there is an increased queuing length when you are approaching the Pearl and Marginal Street intersection as you're traveling westbound along Marginal Street and you want to take a left onto the um thank you the Meridian Street bridge to East Boston it is not necessarily a um like super detrimental dysfunction of the intersection it's just that there's now not a protected left turn and so drivers can get ansy when that happens obviously and you're waiting for your opening waiting for your opening and then you go ahead to turn so we do recognize that that has created an issue there it is sort of that balance of pros and cons of modernizing intersections and then sometimes you get these sort of um issues with turns like that uh in stating a protected left-and turn would create sort of um Downstream and Upstream issues with the other intersections I would say that we are going to continue to review this and try to get a definitive answer from our engineering Consultants before we come to the table with any proposed recommendations or adjustments and so I would propose to to table this until next meeting what when we get more information so until the next meeting yes okay second all in favor thank you okay communication November 20th from Commissioner of Public Works Kate Fox providing an update on the downtown Broadway utility project looks like she provided an email should do we need to read it out loud or anything yes because I think she wants the public to um okay do you want me to read it out loud or should the chair I'll read it out loud are you volunteer I'm happy to read it out loud I'm familiar with the project so I can answer any questions as best as I can but this is the utility scope of the downtown Broadway project uh the downtown Broadway utility project is well underway as a reminder this current work is to install new sewers in Broadway and reconnect all of the buildings to new sewers we are also replacing some water mains as well as any lead water services that we find that are in need of replacement um this week you may have noticed that the work has moved into the intersection of Fourth Street and Broadway for the next four to six weeks Broadway will remain open but Fourth Street will be closed drivers exiting the Fourth Street ramp from Route One should turn on to Chestnut there will be police officers at the corner to help guide drivers while the work to move from one side of the intersection to the other progresses parking will be restricted for half a block in either direction the MBTA has also closed the bus stop at Fourth and Broadway please please use the stop at fifth in Broadway for the 111 112 and 114 routes during the next 6 weeks albanes the contractor will be installing sewer and replacing water services on the northwest side of Broadway any businesses requiring Water Service replacement will be contacted at least 48 hours in advance to schedule the work we encourage all drivers and pedestrians to be mindful of the cones and stay out of the work zone for your own safety if you have any questions you can reach out to the email that's provided for this project which is construction Chelsea ma.gov or you can call 311 the contractor will not be working next Thurday or Friday and observance of the Thanksgiving holiday which happened last week I do have a question um has the MBTA put up sign saying that those stops are closed I'm not sure if the MBTA has put up a sign to coordinate that but I will remind DPW to ask the MBTA to do so and then will the the neighborhood be not ified of the closures so that they for the roads or for the bus for the for the bus par for the parking yeah um I believe that the the goal is to what what happened at the outset of the project was to do a mailing out to the neighborhood into the businesses that was an opportunity for them to sign up for notifications or for this email address um every time there's a closure I don't think that the best practice is to do a mailing that would be ideal but if understandably it can take a lot of work so I think there is certainly going to be signage okay about the um closure of the parking spaces will there be a notification like on the website for the city that we can put up I believe so that's another item that I can remind DPW to ensure that they do so to answer your question I was just there last night working they have a big sign that does say that that bus Stop's closed and I caution taped the actual bus stop don't know how well it's being imped but they're trying they're hard that's yeah okay all right any other questions for Ben on that project no the case this would be a no vote no vote yeah this is a no vote just a communication okay meeting adjourn e e