Quality of Life Committee (2007)

1. Quality of Life Committee (2007) • Diehl, Casey, Merritt, Slaughter, Barberis, (Kopp) • Successes, Issues, and Standstills • Recycling • Bike Commuting • Several standstills

2. Successes: Recycling • Cafeteria adds recycling of glass, plastic bottles, and metal cans (but not styro-foam) • Village recycling metal, glass, paper and plastic Images from Fermilab Today

3. Successes: Recycling • The lab has been recycling electronics, scrap metal, for years • Eric Mieland is the environmental specialist in charge of recycling From Fermilab Today

4. Issues: Bicycle Commuting • Fermilab has been mostly bike-friendly • Users and visitors generally have found it safer than outside-the-lab streets. • Bike clubs often start rides at Fermilab on weekday evenings and on weekends and some clubs use the roads to pass through. • There is a Fermilab bike club (though it may have unofficial status). Email: fermi-bikers@fnal.gov • GSA maintains and offers bikes for visitors.

5. Bicycle Commuting • There are old and new safety concerns • Concerns addressed by Batavia • CoB formed a year long bike route plan. Batavia recently adopted a plan that encourages safe cycling based on input from people who actually bike. Jim Volk (FNAL) is an Alderman and he knows more about it than do I. • West FNAL exit at Pine St. (in Batavia) • Formerly, east-bound required bikers to cross Pine St. to the wrong side in order to push the crossing button. West-bound this isn’t a problem. CoB is installing a crossing button at the SW corner of this intersection timed to allow people to cross Pine and then Kirk. Bikes will go straight across. This is helpful.

6. Bicycle Commuting • There are old and new safety concerns • Concerns to fix at Fermilab • Spur between C0 and D0 is unpaved behind C0. This section is rough enough that it destroys some bike tires and some commuters have to walk the bike over it. Some simply use Eola and Swenson Rd. instead. • West exit on Pine St. on FNAL site • Recent changes of the west-bound bike lane (N side of Pine) are ask bikers to execute unnecessary (and unsafe) road crossings in the vicinity of Big Woods and the guard station at Kirk Rd. (see next slide) • A Statement from the constructers of the Fermilab plan to fermi-bikers@fnal.gov says “Finally the use of the bike path lane on the shoulder of outbound Pine will be discouraged”.

7. East of C0 • CDF to D0 Bikepath terminates at gravelly parking lot and restarts around the corner past my car. • A bike lane should be paved across the parking lot

8. Bike Traffic Plan “The ess in the woods” has a wide bike shoulder but … … bikes are expected to turn left across traffic that is exiting the thick woods bike lane removed Note: sidewalk-width path is to accommodate two-way bike traffic and includes pedestrians, dogs, etc … as well.

9. The Bike Path, the Funnel, & The Stoplight • The Path (destroyed) • The Funnel • The Stoplight

10. But What’s Worse about that Area: • The actual bike plan involves another blind crossing • And drivers are looking at the intersection ahead

11. Bike Commuters Say • The person that can see you doesn’t hit you, • It’s the one that doesn’t see you that is a danger. • blind crossings (to both the bikes and the cars) • distracting intersections • It’s safer to bike through the Funnel than to perform the planned road crossings. • Side effect: An increased number of merely frustrating car-bike interactions.

12. Result • Bike commuting has become less safe on the FNAL site. This is an immediate problem. • Fermi-bikers were not involved in the formation of the present situation. They found out about it only just before demolition occurred. • They should have been better consulted. • They may be able to come up with a plan even safer than what was in place in the past.

13. Bicycle Commuting • Bike Parking • There’s simply not enough space at the Hi-Rise for all of the bikes. This is also historically true at DZero and CDF. • Some relic bikes (taking up space) are identifiable (flat tires) etc … • Perhaps these can be donated to the GSA after some proper request to possible owners • This is a recurring problem but doesn’t present a full solution to the space crunch. • More bike stands would be helpful. Not very much of the bike parking is out of the rain. Bicycle commuters prefer certain kinds of bike racks as other kinds actually damage the bikes.

14. Things at a stand-still • Female-only sports league and resources. Really, this requires a leading person interested in organizing participation. • A whole small dorm or house instead of a corner of an Aspen East floor seems a reasonable upgrade for women-only housing. • Ride-sharing web page was created and handed-off. I consider this done unless we still need to ID an interested party to manage it. • “How to be a successful graduate student” talk never achieved enough interest in GSA that they would actually make time for the presentation and discussion.