Durwood Mayfield and Sherman Phillips attended the October meeting of the Lubbock Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (LMPO) Transportation Advisory Committee. Also in attendance were representatives from Texas Department of Transportation, the City of Wolfforth, the City of Lubbock, Lubbock County Commissioners, Lubbock CitiBus, representative from Texas Tech University, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Mr. Kirk Fauver from the Federal Highway Administration. Sam Woods, Transportation Planning Director of LMPO, gave recognition to Durwood and Sherman of the Texas Bicycle Coalition and welcomed them to the meeting.

The first order of business was to elect a new Chairman of the Advisory Committee, and Jere Hart, City of Lubbock Engineer and strong supporter of the BikeTexas Safe Routes to School program, was elected by acclimation. We hope to be able to work with Mr. Hart in the future to improve bike routes and lanes around and approaching all schools in the area affected by LMPO, creating a safer route to schools for all students whether riding their bicycles or walking.

Next a presentation was given by Mr. Kirk Fauver about the SAFETEA-LU requirements for Transportation Improvement Programs and Metropolitan Transportation Plans by FHWA. Mr. Fauver again recognized Mayfield and Phillips of the Coalition and expressed his gratitude for their attendance. Mr. Fauver stated that our input at later dates on some of the upcoming projects would be welcomed. After his presentation, the discussion turned to projects now under way and planned for the near future.

One of the projects coming up is the inventory and mapping of all bike routes and lanes for the City of Lubbock and the immediate surrounding area. Mr. Woods indicated to Mayfield and Phillips that they would probably be called upon to assist in that endeavor. After a brief report from the Director of the LMPO, the times for the next meetings were set and the meeting was adjourned. Mayfield and Phillips were then able to personally introduce themselves to Mr. Fauver and have a short visit with him. They offered their services to him and to LMPO to advance cycling access, safety and education in Texas.