IN THE FALL OF 2009, Great Rivers Greenway along with a core stakeholder group comprised of St. Louis City, County, St. Charles County, local municipalities, advocacy groups, East West Gateway Council of Governments, Metro, and other key participants, began the process of developing a bicycle master plan for the region. With Paul Wojciechowski of CH2M Hill as the Project Manager, the 19 month project
began in earnest in early 2010.
began in earnest in early 2010.
IN EARLY 2010, the project team worked with the stakeholders to identify the Citizen & Technical Advisory Committees (CAC & TAC), while working on creating the project graphics and website. The team also began the collaborative process of engaging both owners and users of the roadway system.
Simultaneously, the CH2M Hill team began the task of gathering existing bicycle and pedestrian plans and other key information that would be critical to the bicycle master plan process. These efforts wrapped up in May of 2010.
June of 2010 saw the rollout of the website, collection and distribution of data from municipal surveys regarding a tentative bicycle network. Meetings with the CAC and TAC continued and a vision statement was crafted for the plan as well as goals and objectives, while public engagement planning and key stakeholder meetings continued over the summer. Watch for more public engagement opportunities in March of 2011 and a final plan in Spring/Summer 2011.
Simultaneously, the CH2M Hill team began the task of gathering existing bicycle and pedestrian plans and other key information that would be critical to the bicycle master plan process. These efforts wrapped up in May of 2010.
June of 2010 saw the rollout of the website, collection and distribution of data from municipal surveys regarding a tentative bicycle network. Meetings with the CAC and TAC continued and a vision statement was crafted for the plan as well as goals and objectives, while public engagement planning and key stakeholder meetings continued over the summer. Watch for more public engagement opportunities in March of 2011 and a final plan in Spring/Summer 2011.
IN OCTOBER, the team kicked off the public engagement efforts with the official Kick-Off Open house Meetings on October 13th and 14th. The initial meeting was held on October 13, at the Maryland Heights Community Center, where 60 attendees provided critical information for inclusion in the plan. The second meeting was held at the Richmond Heights Community Center (The Heights), where 142 people attended and provided engaging input for the master plan. In addition to the two open house meetings, the website offered a virtual open house for those who could not attend. In all 196 people provided responses to questionnaires at the open house and the on-line survey from the virtual open house. The results of the questions asked are located on the website for review.
Meetings continue with the advisory committees and have resulted in a final set of
goals and objectives for the Master Plan.
Meetings continue with the advisory committees and have resulted in a final set of
goals and objectives for the Master Plan.
THE DATA COLLECTION for the draft roadway network, which was reviewed and commented on by the advisory committees led to data collection last Fall. This effort was completed in October, following the open house meetings. Information from the meetings led to the draft network and data collection in critical areas. Roads were measured and recommendations for bike facilities developed. These recommendations will be reviewed with the advisory committees in January of 2011.
A CRITICAL STEP in the plan development is to both refine the draft bicycle network and develop a prioritization process for establishing short, medium and long term priorities for building out the bicycle network. Revisions to the network based on discussions with the advisory committees will continue into the development of the draft master plan document.
WORK ON THE DRAFT PLAN DOCUMENT has been initiated with the vision goals and objectives of the plan as being the foundation for an implementable plan that is a living and active document. Implementation measures for tracking the performance of the plan are being developed in coordination with the advisory committees. The final plan document will detail prioritization, funding, design guidelines and standards which will act as a resource to help communities and public entities build the bicycle system.
The master plan document will be the tool that is to be adopted by region, state and local entities as the regional direction of which all will play a part in the implementation of the plan for years to come. It is expected that the plan will be updated as the plan is implemented.
The master plan document will be the tool that is to be adopted by region, state and local entities as the regional direction of which all will play a part in the implementation of the plan for years to come. It is expected that the plan will be updated as the plan is implemented.
THE BICYCLE MASTER PLAN will create the bicycle component to the regional transportation network that accommodates all users and promotes consistent design and development of bicycle facilities.
The advisory committees worked together to help craft the following critical project goals.The overall mission behind these goals is to increase the number of people using bicycles for transportation.
- Provide a prioritized system of routes that are contiguous and connected to other on- and off-road facilities.
- Improve safety for all modes of transportation through the careful design and implementation of bicycle facilities.
- Improve safety for all modes of transportation through the implementation of educational and enforcement programs.
- Expand the public's view that bicycles are a viable / acceptable mode of transportation.
- Increase the commitment of public officials to support and / or initiate public policy for bicycling in all levels of government - state, local, and regional.
- Increase the number of people using bicycles for transportation.
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