Last updated: 21st June 2004
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New Street Standards: Economic, Health, and Community Benefits By adopting new street standard policies, Columbia can create a community resource that will benefit all of us, and generations to come. We are positioned to become known as Columbia: The City of Trails! Currently, more than half of Columbia's streets lack sidewalks and the handful of bicycle lanes that exist are scattered around the city. As a result only 7.5% of work trips in Columbia are completed by walking or biking. In cities with quality facilities, such as Davis, CA, Madison, WI, and Boulder, CO, the percentage of walking and biking trips exceeds 15%, more than twice Columbia’s rate. A 15-month planning process involving local homebuilders and developers, key departments and volunteer commissions of the City of Columbia, and local health/environmental groups, concluded in August, 2003. The Model Street Standards Working Group (the Group) recommended that new residential streets (70% of all streets) be slightly narrowed from 32’ to 28’ in order to help slow vehicles in neighborhoods, save money, and reduce impervious surface. Narrower residential streets are common around the country. The National Association of Home Builders recommends 24-26' residential streets to reduce cost and storm water runoff. Springfield, MO has a 27' standard for local streets, and Omaha, NE utilizes a 25' standard. For major collector and arterial streets, the Group recommended that areas previously set aside for on-street parking (now typically prohibited) be narrowed slightly and used instead for bike lanes. Pedways (8’ shared use paths) were recommended for one side of major collectors and arterials, the most heavily trafficked streets, to provide a comfortable place for cyclists who prefer to be separated from high-speed automobiles, pedestrians, wheelchair and mobility device users, and others. While the recommendations call for many street widths to be narrowed slightly, they call for ALL vehicle travel lanes to be no less than 12’ wide, the width of travel lanes on I-70. The typical automobile is 5’-6’ wide. School buses are about 8’ wide. Combined with our growing nature trail system, the proposed street standards will lay the foundation for an outstanding bike/ped/wheelchair network similar to those in Davis, Madison, and Boulder, other college towns with which Columbia competes economically. Transportation choice is something Columbians desire, as illustrated by the almost 1,400 Columbians who left their cars at home and chose active transportation during the recent Third Annual Mayor's Challenge: Bike, Walk, and Wheel Week. And how much extra will it cost to build streets according to the new standards? Little or nothing! According to Columbia Planning Director Roy Dudark, who provided staff support for the Group, the cost savings achieved with narrower residential street widths will offset most if not all of the extra cost of bike lanes and pedways. Economic Benefits Development of a quality bike/ped/wheelchair network will be good for our local economy. According to REDI, Columbia should exploit the presence of MU to expand our technology-based economy. At the heart of that strategy is the need to recruit and retain knowledge workers, especially the highly productive researchers and graduate students that fuel the MU research enterprise and other high-tech companies. Columbia competes with other university towns, many of which boast multi-modal transportation networks and other quality outdoor recreation opportunities - amenities that are viewed as highly desirable by knowledge workers. Columbia has no mountains, beaches and oceans, nor recreational lakes, but we do have a beautiful and gently rolling terrain that lends itself to a quality bike/ped/wheelchair network. For many years, the Chamber of Commerce has led the effort to recruit retirees to Columbia. According to Columbia gerontologist Ann Gowans, Ph.D., "roughly 50% of those who make detailed plans for their retirement are looking for a place where they can use their legs and their bikes to get around." Columbia will compete more effectively for retirees with a quality multi-modal transportation network. Quality bike/ped/wheelchair facilities increase real estate values. According to a 1999 Urban Land Institute study, "Homebuyers are willing to spend an additional $20,000 for a home in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood," and a Colorado State Parks study found that, "Homes within one block of an urban trail are more easily marketed because of their proximity to the trail." Many local real estate ads draw attention to the close proximity of houses to the MKT and other trails. More than 3,500 households in the Columbia Metro area do not own a vehicle. The monies saved from NOT operating a vehicle can be invested in housing, education, and the local economy, helping many to increase their quality-of-life. Health Benefits A quality bike/ped/wheelchair network will have long-term benefits for the health of Columbians, and will help to avert a nationwide public health crisis that threatens the financial security of the country. Over the last 30 years, childhood overweight has tripled and continues to rise, while the percent of children who walk/bike to school has fallen from 66% to 10%. Two-thirds of adults are now overweight and one-third are obese, leading to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. This disease epidemic is causing an estimated reduction in life expectancy of 8-20 years for obese individuals, and an explosion in health care expenditure. The cost of overweight and obesity exceeds $100 billion annually and will soon eclipse health care costs associated with tobacco use. The tragic human suffering and enormous financial burden are the result of a lifestyle gone astray. Just thirty minutes of moderate physical activity (such as walking) every day would cause most people to avoid these dire consequences. But the easiest way to achieve physical activity is unavailable to many of us today because neighborhoods, employment centers, and places of business are being designed exclusively for the automobile. According to Richard Killingsworth, Director of Active Living by Design, "Community design and limited transportation choice often prevent people from leading physically active lives." We must become a more physically active society. Experts agree that incorporating biking and walking into our daily routines is the best strategy to improve our health. A quality multi-modal transportation network that encourages biking and walking is essential. Community Benefits Finally, there are community benefits to having a quality bike/ped/wheelchair network. Facilities that encourage people to bike, walk, or wheel increase the social capital of neighborhoods and business districts. People get to know their neighbors, they look out for each other, quality of life increases, and crime is deterred. When a walk-to-school program was initiated in Chicago, neighborhood crime decreased in areas where children and parents were walking every day. Summary The proposed street standards represent little or no additional cost over the old standards. Adoption of the proposed street standards will insure the ongoing creation of a quality multi-modal transportation network that will add enormous value to our city. We can become Columbia: The City of Trails.
Submitted by:
Chip Cooper, President, PedNet Coalition |