Below is the letter I just sent.
Leelee, I ended up only changing what Dennis said, adding "and fatalities"
to where we talked about decreasing crashes. I didn't feel that mentioning
the fatality statistics was relevant to the letter, and couldn't find a way
to insert it that sounded natural. I hope that's okay. I made an "executive
decision". I also changed the wording in that sentence a bit, "to discuss
ideas and way to decrease vulnerable user injuries and fatalities". That's
all.
On a different note, our church musician will be playing jazz piano music
at Qwill Books & Beverage on Easter Sunday afternoon, 1:30 PM. Qwill is the
new bookstore/cafe in Westbrook Common, behind Westbrook House of Pizza and
the Halal Market. It is handicap-accessible and spacious.
Happy Easter Weekend!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Brooking <johnbrooking4@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 5:10 PM
Subject: BikeMaine Community Grant Letter of Interest for 2018
To: MaryBeth Luce <marybeth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: MaryBeth Luce, Director, BikeMaine
The Westbrook Safe Mobility and Access Committee (WSMAC) hereby submits a
Letter of Interest for a BikeMaine Community Grant, for the purpose of
purchasing and installing bicycle racks in the downtown Westbrook area.
WSMAC was organized in early 2017 to address concerns of local residents
around safe access to local roads for people outside of cars, most
especially in safely crossing streets in marked crosswalks. We participated
in the first MeDOT/BCM Pedestrian Safety Forum to discuss ideas and ways to
decrease vulnerable user injuries and fatalities in our city and to improve
access and mobility for everyone. We also have established communications
with city officials in the last year to improve access to planned projects
such as the Cumberland Mills Traffic Triangle and the western end of
William Clarke Drive. We are striving to be a proactive and visible entity
in Westbrook.
With the above in mind, we are applying for a Community Grant to install
bike racks at several visible and key locations in downtown Westbrook.
Having new, visible and easily accessible bike racks will help in showing
bicyclists and other visitors that Westbrook welcomes bicycling as an
accepted and normal means of transportation, as well as being welcomed by
downtown businesses.
Having visible bike racks to secure bicycles will give bicyclists a more
secure and confident feeling. First time bicyclists to Westbrook will see
our community values in providing a safe and secure place to leave your
bicycle while enjoying lunch, dinner or attending a local event.
We have already begun brainstorming desired locations for racks, and
inventorying existing locations. We will need to work closely with the city
of Westbrook where racks would be on city property such as a sidewalk or
park, and with business owners if the location is on their private
property. We already know of several business owners who would be
supportive. We are fortunate to have on our committee the owners of Ernie's
Cycle Shop, Sylvia and Bruce Wallingford, whose expertise on bicycle
matters will be valuable in advising us on this project.
Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Dennis Marrotte, for WSMAC
Co-Chairs: Leelee Prince, John Brooking
