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Regional planners on right path to safer biking conditions
Regional planners on right path to safer biking conditions
By Ken McCall Staff Writer Friday, December 05, 2008 The Dayton region quietly passed a milestone this week that could make a big difference for those who want to make getting outside and active a part of their lifestyle. On Thursday morning, Dec. 4, the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission unanimously passed a trails plan that has been in the works for more than a year. Drawn up by the nationally known Alta Planning consulting group, the plan lays out a vision — and some detailed project descriptions — for making the region safe for walkers, runners, bicyclists and roller-bladers, as well as transit riders and motorists. The idea is to connect every community to the "interstate system" of existing bike paths, so people can more safely get around without cars. Sometimes that might mean a separated trail or a bike lane or a sidewalk or bike racks or a redesigned intersection crossing. Other times it might mean local programs (such as Drive Less Live More) to encourage people to get out of their cars, or to educate bicyclists and drivers how to safely coexist. You can read the Miami Valley Comprehensive Local Regional Bikeways Plan, which includes a list of 100 projects, at www.altaprojects.net/mvrpc/ Resistance from the county engineers of Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties led to the dropping of language that was meant to be a model for a so-called complete streets policy. Complete streets policies call for governments to at least consider designing streets to be safe for all users — motorized and nonmotorized — whenever a street is constructed, reconstructed or resurfaced. But the plan still calls for adopting a complete streets policy, and Matt Lindsay, one of the MVRPC staffers who helped shepherd the plan through the public comment and approval process, says the input from the engineers actually made the plan better. "The removal of the sample text for a complete streets policy, I don't think hurts anything," Lindsay said. "This way, the plan does not predetermine what the policy would say, and that allows us to continue a process with our jurisdictions to develop a policy the way we want it for the region. I think we'll all benefit from that ongoing discussion." Resistance to new policies, especially the call for complete streets, is to be expected, said Elizabeth Kiker, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists. "It's very rare to have Alta write a plan and have the city (or, in this case, the region) immediately embrace it," said Kiker. "That's part of what the advocacy groups and we are working on." Kiker said the league, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group, is pushing for a national complete streets policy. It's great, she said, that the Dayton region, like many others across the country, is beginning the conversation. "It's not a smooth road to great transportation for everyone," she said, "but it's definitely a road we are on and headed in the right direction." Because much of the region's plan won't involve stand-alone trails, it will be up to city, village and township councils to start getting many of the projects done. Let the local lobbying begin. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDaily News.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/con...id=inform_artr |
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