There are two Bruces on the Farmington Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee, which creates a certain logistical challenge when one of them is trying to address the other.
"I shouldn't say just Bruce, should I," said Bruce Donald, Southern New England Manager for the East Coast Greenway Alliance, at Wednesday night's committee meeting — catching himself mid-sentence as he turned to ask Bruce Sear, the committee's town liaison, about sign dimensions for the Highlands wayfinding project.
The two Bruces navigated this without apparent incident. The sign project did likewise.
Wayfinding Signs: Andres Steps Up
The committee has been working toward directional signs along the Farmington Valley Trail from Rosewood through the Highlands, pointing cyclists toward Farmington High School and the Municipal Complex — a project that got its first green light at the March 11 meeting. Wednesday moved it from discussion to delegation: committee member Andres volunteered to design the sign graphic and tap a contact — the owner of Bellmead Signs in Grandview — for pricing.
Design parameters, as negotiated between the two Bruces and Andres: 4×6 to 6×9 inches, MUTCD-style blanks with UV-coated vinyl graphics, mounted on existing signposts so as not to overshadow whatever speed limit sign is already there. "I don't want to dwarf out the existing street sign," Sear said. Arrows will be ordered separately — the 4¼-inch variety — because, as Donald explained, buying them apart from the blanks comes out cheaper.
Donald also raised a time-tested option for bulk orders: the Connecticut prison manufacturing system, which produced over 100 signs for the Hot River Trail re-sign project at lower cost than any outside vendor. For a Highlands project of perhaps two dozen pieces, the math may or may not work out. They'll get pricing both ways.
Worth noting: Andres made clear the committee has aesthetic standards. He dislikes sign pollution — the unnecessary proliferation of signage that clutters rather than guides. The goal is informative, not overwhelming.
Target: installed before summer 2026. Donald will send MUTCD templates to Andres as a starting point.
Safe Routes to School: The Superintendent Is In
The committee's Safe Routes to School initiative moved from stalled to scheduled Wednesday, when committee member Jim Radcliffe reported he'd spoken with Farmington Superintendent Jess Giannini the night before — Tuesday evening, April 7 — and will arrange a follow-up with Giannini and curriculum director Eric Martin after the April school break.
The first order of business at that meeting: initiating CT DOT school route audits at two schools. Proposed targets: Union School first, because it's already bicycle-friendly and represents an achievable early win, and Irving Robbins/East Farms second. "That's a heavy hitter," Andres said of the second school. "That's the prime age of kids riding their bikes to school." The Irving Robbins audit would also connect strategically to the planned Jug Handle trail project, and the reports — which take roughly two months to produce — can anchor future grant applications.
The audits are free. Bridget Moriarty of CT DOT's Safe Routes program leads them at no cost to the town, requires only sign-off from school administration, and needs a few hours of on-site time. The process has two components: an on-site observation of traffic patterns, school buses, and car flow, and an off-site analysis of the half-mile to mile radius around the school — where are the crosswalks, where are the sidewalks, how do kids actually get there.
Giannini, who took over as superintendent in January, did comparable work in Avon before coming to Farmington, the committee chair noted; he's familiar with the process. The committee's goal is to get at least one audit completed while school is still in session this spring.
Also on the calendar: a bike-to-school event at Union School on April 24, and a second event at West District School a couple of weeks after that.
The E-Moto Problem (It Is Not an E-Bike)
During the BikeWalk Farmington update, Ron — the committee's BikeWalk representative — raised a trail safety concern that has been building for a while: vehicles that look like e-bikes, ride like motorcycles, and fit neatly into neither category.
"I know Southington, to name one, is having a major problem right now with e-bikes just going road," Ron said.
Bruce Donald offered a correction the committee will need to operationalize. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes — pedal-assisted, speed-limited — are permitted on Farmington trails, Donald said. The problem vehicles are a different category entirely.
"It's really not e-bikes anymore," Donald said. "They're e-motos is what those things are. They're basically electric motorcycles."
What distinguishes them, Donald explained: some of these vehicles — available on Amazon and elsewhere — don't have pedal seats at all. They have pegs. They're effectively motorized two-wheelers sold into the gap between e-bike and moped, and neither the trail's rules nor the public's vocabulary has caught up.
The committee needs to develop policy and nomenclature that reflects the distinction. For now, the enforcement gap is real — and so is the behavior gap. Ron noted that a small number of repeat offenders seem unmoved by awareness or social pressure.
"I can practically pick out the same kids every day," Ron said. "I know him, I know him, I know her — mostly hims. They're just not getting it."
The suggestion on the table: school assemblies with police presence, putting kids on notice that there are eyes on the trail. No formal action was taken Wednesday. The committee flagged e-moto policy as a standing item.
Trail Speed Limits: Working Around the Trails Council
The push for a regional 15 mph speed limit on the Farmington Valley Trail is moving forward without the Farmington Valley Trails Council, which has been reluctant to lead on the issue.
Bruce Sear will work through Farmington's police chief — currently occupied with other department matters — to convene a stakeholder meeting: police chiefs and trail-managing DPW or Park & Rec directors from Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, and Canton in the same room.
Donald, who said he's spoken with a number of people involved and found general agreement the speed limit is worth doing, put the strategic logic plainly: "As a practical matter, there's no earthly reason for us to be pushing this forward if the enforcing authority isn't on board."
The meeting just needs to happen.
Also Wednesday Night 🚲
A Boy Scout is working with Bruce Sear on an Eagle Scout project: a bike rack and historical kiosk at the depot building on Depot Place, near the new trail connection to a nearby coffee shop. Donald recommended running the design past the Farmington Valley Trails Council for aesthetic consistency — a practical suggestion, he noted, given that kiosks of the style the committee installed years ago run $35,000 to $40,000 each by his estimate. The project is in early stages; target is summer 2026.
The CT DOT Safe Routes micro-grant program has a new application round coming in June, with a deadline around June 30. Cap is $5,000. Bruce Sear plans to apply, with Donald providing the application materials. Working plan: roughly $4,000 in helmets, $1,000 in bike lights and reflective slap bracelets. Ron's BikeWalk contacts will supply specifications and pricing from Amy, who handles gear distribution.
A bike rodeo safety clinic is in development with Central Wheel, led by committee member Matt — absent Wednesday. No date or site confirmed yet.
The February 11 meeting minutes were approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned on a motion Bruce Donald offered, he said, "to end this gracefully" — prompted by Ron's observation that Bruce Sear had mentioned it was his day off and deserved not to have it extended.
It passed.
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— Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's bicycle committee beat long enough to know that sign dimensions and e-moto nomenclature are, in fact, serious matters. He is on his third coffee. He regrets nothing. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers Farmington's government, schools, police, development, and everything happening on the boards and commissions most people have never heard of — but probably should have. We arrive last. We arrive right. farmingtonmercury.com