Aug. 6--Steps were taken this week to update the master plan for the city's trails system.
The $50,400 project is being undertaken to design a multi-modal transportation infrastructure that integrates pedestrian, bicycle and public transit routes. Updating the 2004 plan is expected to help "identify and prioritize a range of projects to create a complete network of public transit, sidewalks, trails and bikeways."
The goal is to provide "safe, comfortable and accessible routes" for "people of all ages and abilities" as they travel throughout the city. The project furthers the objectives identified in the city's complete streets policy, which was adopted in 2016 and subsequently identified by Smart Growth America as one of the best in the nation.
Parks and Recreation Director Mark Wilkerson said the idea was driven by the AIM steering committee, which recognized "the need to address all these various forms of transportation." He said three other agencies -- the Muskogee County Health Department, Oklahoma State University and Muskogee County Public Transit -- will share the costs of updating the master plan with the city, which will use voter-approved capital improvement funds for the project.
"This is kind of a unique process," Wilkerson said. "Not may communities have done it like this."
Doug Walton, a community liaison with the Muskogee County Health Department, began advocating for the adoption of the complete streets concept in 2012. He and Mark Bonney, who served as chairman of the citizen street committee at the time, urged city officials to consider pedestrian and bicycle routes during all stages of infrastructure planning and development.
City councilors, during their Finance Committee meeting on Monday, tentatively approved a professional services agreement with Kimley-Horn & Associates to update the city's master trails plan. Councilors are expected to grant final approval for agreement the the city's $24,500 share of the cost when they meet Monday during their regular City Council meeting.
Mayor Marlon Coleman said he liked the idea of the city sharing the design costs with other stakeholders.
"This is a good idea for the separate agencies to participate in the funding mechanism," Coleman said, citing the public and private benefits of the project. "It is going to take a community effort to be certain we have the funding to do what we need to do when there is so much uncertainty due to the COVID-19."
Councilors tentatively approved four contracts worth more than $1.88 million for various street maintenance projects scheduled for fiscal year 2021 in southeast Muskogee. The projects will include mill and overlay work, microsurfacing projects and the infrastructure required for new residential construction announced in 2019.
Construction of 40 new houses in Walnut Creek Addition, which is being developed along South Country Club Road, was expected to begin in April but delayed by pandemic mitigation response efforts. Developers could build up to 127 homes on a 30-acre agricultural tract that was rezoned earlier this year as a planned unit development district.
Interim Public Works Director Mike Stewart said the street maintenance projects, which were approved by the streets advisory committee, should be completed during a 180-day window that will commence after notices to proceed are issued. Councilors are expected to grant final approval for these contracts when they meet Monday.
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"complete" - Google News
August 07, 2020 at 06:15PM
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OK: Next steps taken toward complete streets concept - MassTransitMag.com
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