County and City Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committees

Barbara Hudson has taught writing for years at Whatcom Community College and written articles for other publications such as Business Pulse and Ranger Communications.

Editor’s Note: Our local governments have a total of 65 boards and commissions (43 for Whatcom County and 22 for the city of Bellingham) staffed mainly by citizen volunteers who are appointed by either the respective executive or council. What follows is a brief overview of the county and city bicycle/pedestrian advisory committees. General descriptions of all boards and commissions can be found on-line (Whatcom County: http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/boards/boards/jsp and Bellingham: http://www.cob.org/mayor/boards_commissions/index.htm.)

Established: 1992

Appointed by: Whatcom County Executive

Number of Members: 10

Term Length: four years

Meets: third Wednesday of each month at County Planning (Smith and Northwest Road) from 6–8 p.m.

Contact Person: Scott Thompson (360) 592-5880

Purpose: This committee is an active group of volunteers who have created useful bike route maps and specific priority lists of bike projects. The committee started when federal dollars became available for projects other than highways and was modeled on the city committee. According to co-chair Scott Thompson, the group advocates more for trails, as there is no Greenways program in the county. Plus, because of the distances people travel who live in the county, the emphasis is more on bicycling than pedestrian issues.

Ellen Barton Transportation planner

Richard Clearman Accountant

Larry Daugert Attorney

David Determan Design drafter

Molly Maquire Landscape designer

Jeff Margolis Grocer

Michael Passo Trails assessment specialist

Mark Polhamus Web administrator

Scott Thompson Project engineer

Amy Verjillo New member

Accomplishments and Frustrations: This was a busy year for the county bicycle committee. “We had another successful bike skills course at the Northwest Washington Fair,” Thompson said, where they taught safety and encouraged kids to have fun with bikes. “More importantly, we held a non-motorized transportation arterial summit with regional planners and transportation officials,” he explained, that helped county staff realize the importance of a dedicated staff engineer in public works to address trail and right of way acquisition before infilling makes this impossible.

The committee hopes to continue to work with Whatcom County Public Works to upgrade roadways for bicycle use and implement projects such as the Bay-to-Baker and Nooksack River trails, which would be a boon to recreation and tourism.

Established: 1992, amended to include pedestrian component in 2001

Appointed by: Mayor (confirmed by City Council)

Number of Members: nine

Term Length: four years, no limit

Meets: last Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall

Contact Person: Kim Brown, city staff, (360) 676-6960

Purpose: Similar to the county committee, this group is charged with helping staff make recommendations related to pedestrian and bikeway construction and prioritizing, representing “both transportation and recreational interests.”

Ellen Barton Transportation project specialist

Carol Berry WWU alternative transportation

Therese Kelliher Licensed massage practitioner

Catherine McIntyre Hospice social worker

Julie Muyllaert, Chair WWU director for campus compact

Marie Kimball Leasing specialist

Wendy Scholtz Vanpool marketing for Skagit Transit

Norm Nielsen Quality assurance project manager

Aaron Seaton Taxi driver

Accomplishments and Frustrations: This past year they worked closely with the city of Bellingham to update the transportation chapter of the comprehensive plan.

“It was the most positive experience I’ve had,” reported committee member Ellen Barton. “It felt like there was more support for transportation priorities that aren’t automobile centered, and implementation of projects is happening more rapidly than in the past. Kim Brown, the new city staff person on our committee, is an avid bicyclist, which helps. And there is more emphasis on pedestrian projects.”

On the other hand, there remains a heavy slant toward cars in the comprehensive plan and many bike and pedestrian projects take more than five years to come to fruition, which can be frustrating. “For example, we were surprised that the comprehensive plan indicated that if traffic increases on State Street, the bike lane could be removed in favor of adding back in a third lane for cars,” Barton reported. §