Croton's shared bicycles return to village streets April 6, and the committee that champions cycling and walking in the village spent its March meeting lining up a spring that could also bring two new bike-share hubs, a bike rodeo at the elementary school and word on a state sidewalk grant. The Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee met March 19 at the Municipal Building. Signs and hubs for the Project MOVER bike-share are already in place and the bikes are due back April 6, according to the minutes, with the committee looking to expand to two additional hubs: one at Senasqua, where opportunities exist both inside and outside the fence, and one on Riverside near the overpass. Member Nora Regis asked for updates on the approvals for the new locations. The relaunched season will be marketed on social media, a task the minutes assign to Regis, and the program is still pushing its discount vouchers: roughly 120 to 130 have been granted so far, 19 of them credited to Croton, with about 300 still available and the income threshold recently increased. Neighboring Sleepy Hollow, the minutes note, is very happy with the progress of its program to date. The regional system had gone dormant for the winter in December, with a re-opening targeted for the first week of April.

Bike boulevards memo heads to trustees

A night before the committee met, its memo on Project MOVER's bike boulevards grant was on the Board of Trustees work session agenda, and a letter of intent to MOVER was needed within a week. The memo focuses on "shovel-ready" projects; the upper village dummy light, a focus area, is not in scope this time — the minutes say more work is required to develop a plan and socialize it with constituents. Regis is waiting to hear back from the state Department of Transportation following a records request concerning incidents in the dummy light area, and the minutes describe any perceived changes to that area as controversial. The village manager and Deputy Mayor Len Simon, the committee's liaison to the Village Board, planned to meet Tuesday at noon to discuss the memo of intent. Simon also expressed enthusiasm for proposed bike lanes running from the diner to Grand Street. Riley Moeller raised the question of how a bike lane would handle the transition at the crossing of Route 129 on Riverside, at the light by the diner, noting that vehicles currently have a steady green arrow for the right turn onto Route 129 and Maple. Simon said the crossing work might be done in conjunction with the sidewalk project and requested a written request from Moeller.

Grant application in the state's hands

The village has submitted its application to the state's Transportation Alternatives Program for the Center Community Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Project — the same scope as its previous submission, including sidewalks along the Cleveland corridor. A timely support letter arrived from the school district, and a response is expected by late summer. The Board of Trustees had authorized the application in February, resolving to seek improvements to pedestrian safety along Cleveland Drive, and the committee had earlier submitted its own letter of support.

Bike rodeo at CET

The committee's spring partnership with the Croton-Harmon school district continues to take shape around a Bike Rodeo at CET, the district's elementary school, slated for May 16. Riders will take a course still to be announced, and the event doubles as a celebration of the fundraiser for a bike storage shed at the school — a drive with a $6,000 goal that is ongoing. The rodeo itself is not contingent on the fundraiser reaching its goal. The committee still has to settle its own function at the event, which is to include a bike safety check run by Moeller through Croton e-Bike. The next step is scheduling a planning session with CET's physical education teacher and a committee sub-group; the partnership grew out of a grant the teacher received to develop a biking unit and purchase bikes, as the committee discussed in January.

Slow Down Croton

The committee weighed how to spend the remaining budget in its Slow Down Croton campaign, with more signs, magnets and static decals all on the table, and consensus appeared to favor stickers and/or magnets. Chair Matt Arnold is to sync with Croton resident and graphic designer Tom Smith — who designed the campaign's lawn signs — on designs and price estimates for printing, with proposals to follow for the next cycle of the campaign. Also on the agenda: the Rotary is organizing a thank-you picnic for the Department of Public Works on May 20 at Senasqua Park, and will be requesting donations. Under other business, ideas are taking shape for events honoring cyclist and Croton resident Deborah Ramsey, who died earlier this year, a group ride among them, and some rides are already being organized. An Earth Day ride is in the planning after last year's event became logistically problematic from Visallo; the CAC will provide the vision for this year's ride. A ride celebrating the nation's 250th birthday was also proposed. The committee meets again April 16, with revisions to its master plan on the agenda.