Long-Range Transportation Plan eyes next step
From Cleveland Daily Banner by DAVID DAVIS, Managing Editor
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Most people chose enhancing and maintaining transportation choices as their main goal with a number of people identifying enhancements for bicycles/pedestrians, or enhancements to roadways and intersections as their top priority.
Promoting targeted growth and sustainability received the second highest number of priority votes. Under that category, developing traffic calming options and updating the downtown plan both received a significant number of votes.
A number of people in attendance considered development of green space, or a green corridor plan and establishing gateways as top objectives under the goal of preserving the existing rural character.
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Doug Coulter, owner of Scott’s Bikes, who attended the Oct. 18 meeting said it was exciting that Cleveland was looking at transportation through the eyes of the public. His vision is for more bicycle friendliness.
Nothing worth doing is easy, he said, but adults ride bikes to work and children ride them to school in other communities. There is an up-front cost but he said a bicycle and pedestrian friendly infrastructure is cheaper in the long run.
“In Portland, Ore., the biking community is huge,” he said. “They were taking parking areas for cars and changing them into parking for bicycles. They added a lane to a bridge. Instead of adding a lane for cars, they added a lane for bicycles, the cost of that is minuscule compared to adding a lane for cars.”
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More people work from a home office or have jobs allowing workers to live just about anywhere. Sprawl, congestion, and continuing growth in vehicle miles traveled continue to challenge efforts to have clean air, a risk to health and quality of life.
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