The money must be used to create a network of pedestrian and cycle paths, with the aim of encouraging walking and bicycling and, thereby, reducing traffic congestion and air pollution (see official language describing program, below right). It is important for Columbia and for the bicycle/pedestrian advocacy movement that the experiment is successful. This means that the network must be well-designed, high-priority routes must be built before lower-priority ones, use of the network must be promoted, and the effect of the network must be evaluated.
This web page is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to provide input to this important process. Over the last several months, suggestions have been submitted by PedNet members and organized below. Please add your voice to this community vision by emailing your ideas to pednet@pednet.org. They will be posted on this page as they are received and will form the basis of a community-wide planning document.
Prioritization
- The first routes to be constructed must be those that will attract the most use.
- These might radiate from the University of Missouri campus out to areas where students/faculty live.
- Other high-priority areas might include completing sidewalks and crosswalks within 1 mile of elementary schools.
- "Connectors" that link otherwise separated sections of the network should be constructed whenever possible.
- Prioritize central routes over peripheral ones.
- Create and communicate a Hub, Spoke, and Wheel concept.
- Identify the downtown/campus area as the Hub of the network.
- Identify the main radial routes (eg. East Broadway, Old Highway 63 South, the Providence corridor, the MKT Trail, etc. as the Spokes of the network, and name them.
- Identify the evolving circumferential trail as the Wheel of the network.
- Quickly and inexpensively create the broad network concept:
- Create connectivity for pedestrians by repairing/installing short sections of damaged or missingv sidewalks along the Spokes.
- Create connectivity for cyclists by adding street markings (eg. striped bike lanes or "sharrow" signs to indicate a shared lane) along the Spokes.
- Create awareness of the network by installing informational signs along the Spokes.
- In the long term, identify and prioritize major improvement projects.
- Connect MU campus under Stadium with Old Highway 63 south and the Jefferson Commons student apartments.
- Complete MKT Trail under Stewart and Providence and install pedestrian crossing lights at intersection.
- Install pedestrian crossing lights at Stadium and Providence and at Broadway and Providence.
- Complete the PedNet Backbone by retrofitting Broadway and Providence, connecting Grindstone Nature Area to Oakland Park and insuring Scott Blvd. is built to new street standards.
- Install crosswalk at new traffic signal on Providence Road near University reactor, and sidewalks connecting new student parking lot to University Recreation Trail and campus.
- Mark new bike lanes on shoulders on Chapel Hill Road, Creasy Springs Road, Texas Avenue, and Stadium Boulevard.
- Complete missing sidewalks and bike lanes on Forum Boulevard.
- Create good connections with Columbia Transit bus routes.
- Create good connections and bike storage facilities at Wabash Station.
- Install sheltered bike racks at major bus stops
- Improve painting maintenance of crosswalks and bike lanes.
- Construct bicycle surfaces of the network in green asphalt - smooth, safe, serene, and distinctive.
- Plant shade trees and landscape buffers alongside network routes.
- Designated night routes should have adequate lighting for safety and comfort.
- Design and distribute accurate maps of the entire network including anticipated completion dates.
- Design consistent, attractive signage to effectively direct bike/ped travelers throughout the city.
- Expand Bike, Walk, and Wheel Week and Walking School Bus programs.
- Identify a celebrity to promote walking and bicycling.
- Conduct baseline measurements of the number of car, bike, and walking journeys as soon as possible.
- Identify a "control" community that is not building a network to control for factors such as high gas prices.
- Repeat "modeshare" measurements annually.
| Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program A complete network of bikeways and pedestrian facilities that lead to important destinations can make walking and bicycling competitive with automobile travel for many trips. This program would fund pilot projects to complete comprehensive bicycling and walking networks in four communities, in order to demonstrate this potential. The program would help construct sidewalks, bike lanes, and trails that would help people on foot and bicycle reach transit stations, businesses, schools, homes, recreation areas, and other destinations. Introducing the non-motorized mode in balance with the personal auto and public transportation modes brings multiple and substantial benefits. Bicycling and walking are affordable, healthy, non-polluting modes that can help alleviate traffic congestion. This has been demonstrated in other countries. It must now be convincingly demonstrated in the U.S. The pilot would document how the four communities increased the frequency of bicycling and walking, decreased congestion and energy use, and promoted better health and a cleaner environment. |
