LexRides

[charlenemingus]

[charlenemingus]

I went to the Complete Streets public meeting last week and it seemed like a really great opportunity for the bike community to let the city know what kind of infrastructure we want. I'll post on Lex Rides as soon as the next public meeting is announced.
-Charlene

LFUCG Complete Streets Web Page

About Complete Streets:

Welcome to our exciting Complete Streets for Lexington initiative! The development of complete streets is an important part of LFUCG’s effort to ensure a sustainable future for Lexington.

Complete streets is a term to describe a connected system of streets that are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users.

Lexington’s Complete Street Project will advance:

* Guidelines that cover all street types - those that are proposed and those that need retrofits
* Street types that support all their uses and that are safe, convenient and attractive for travel by a variety of travel modes
* Connectivity and quality of the street network
* Context sensitive street designs that integrate adjacent land use and transportation
* A street system that supports environmental, social and economic sustainability
* A street system designed for the human scale and which enhances the community’s image and cohesion
* Flexible standards for different needs and places and a clear procedure for decision-making

Where we currently are in the project process:

* Project Mobilization and Data Gathering
* Review and Analyze Existing Conditions, Case Studies, and Best Practices

- Presentation of Existing Conditions and Issues

* Preliminary Ideas and Concepts and Presentation
* Draft Policy and Guidelines and Presentation
* Final Guidelines, Policy, and Proposed Text Amendments

A Presentation of Existing Conditions and Issues was presented October 14th, 2009.

It describes the issues involved in developing complete streets in Lexington and provides examples of complete street programs in a few other cities. The presentation does not yet embark on the development of recommendations but we would love to hear what you think about it and any ideas you may have for our project.

Participate:

LFUCG and its planning team will be conducting a series of publc meetings between October 2009 and Fall 2010. Your input is critical to the project. We welcome everyone to attend the public meetings and to contact us in between meetings with questions and comments! Also, please send us your email address so that we may send you invitations to further public meetings.

LFUCG Planning

Kenzie Gleason – kgleason@lfucg.com or (859) 258-3605

Cynthia Deitz, RLA – cdeitz@lfucg.com or (859) 258-3267

Project Consultants

Wallace Roberts & Todd (http://www.wrtdesign.com/)

Adam Krom – akrom@ph.wrtdesign.com or (251) 732-5215

Mami Hara – mhara@ph.wrtdesign.com or (251) 732-5215

QK4 (http://www.qk4.com/)

EHI Consultants (http://www.ehiconsultants.org/)

Resources

National Complete Street Coalition (hotlink to http://www.completestreets.org)

[charlenemingus]

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009

City brainstorms how to make more livable streets

By Beverly Fortune - bfortune@herald-leader.com

You might never have thought about how public health is impacted by streets.

But consider that 40 percent of all trips are less than 2 miles long, equivalent to a 10-minute healthy bike ride. Yet 65 percent of all trips are made by automobile, Adam Krom told a group of Lexington residents who met Wednesday night to talk about Lexington's streets.

Or what about this: In 1969, 50 percent of children walked to school, but in 2008, less than 14 percent did.

Krom is with the design firm Wallace Roberts & Todd of Philadelphia, which has been hired to help Lexington develop a "Complete Street" plan to build streets that are safer and more livable. Citizen input was the first step to drawing up a set of design guidelines for new streets and to retrofit existing ones.

"This is about making a network of streets that are accessible to everybody, whether you're in a car, on foot, on a bike or using public transit," said Kenzie Gleason, the city's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.

That does not mean every street should have a bike lane or a median planted with trees down the middle, Gleason said. "It's about flexibility, looking at the use and function of each street" and making changes so the street is safe and usable.

The consulting firm will develop a set of recommendations and return in the spring to present them. Visit lexingtonky.gov beginning Thursday to find a link to the new Complete Street Web site.
Reach Beverly Fortune at (859) 231-3251 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3251.
http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news/story/977706.html

[elzie5000]

I apologize in advance for being a debbie downer again, but I see this number being thrown around all the time and it can't be accurate.

40 percent of all trips are less than 2 miles long.... Yet 65 percent of all trips are made by automobile

If those numbers are correct then as little as 5% of trips under two miles could be being made by car.

Do they mean that 65% of the trips under 2 miles are made by car? Because if 35% of all trips everywhere are made not-by-car then the world is a much better place, transportationally speaking, than I've been led to believe.

[sailorjames]