Planning Commission Minutes 2018 09 13

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes September 13, 2018 Page 2 of 7 have solicited public comment through events, online comments, and an open house. Public outreach will continue throughout the process. Libhart described the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) process, which included a draft of the plan itself, feedback from the community, and a schedule to complete the plan. She described the Plan as a blueprint to help guide discussions and funding opportunities for projects serving all modes of transportation in and out of the City. Part of the Plan also addresses policies and programs for implementation. In preparation, TEI has reviewed previous projects in the City and developed goals and community needs based on that research and on community feedback. TEI is aiming for Council adoption of the plan in May 2019. The goal for the preliminary meeting before the Commission was to get commissioners' input on the material. Libhart noted that previous plans for the City have outlined transportation -adjacent projects or have treated different modes of transportation in different plans. The TMP will be the first plan that treats transportation in the city overall as the principal issue. Also, previous plans have lacked measurements for success and enactment and enforcement methods. The draft goals for the new plan are as follows: (1) Provide more choices for community access and connectivity to destinations (2) Develop great streets that prioritize transportation options (3) Enhance safety and travel reliability within the transportation network (4) Support regional connections for residents, employees, and visitors (5) Implement programs that enhance mobility (6) Support development of walkable places Moline asked for the definition of the acronyms NAMS and RTP. Libhart replied that NAMS was the Northwest Area Mobility Study, which is a plan for transit in the area developed with RTD, and RTP was the Regional Transportation Plan by DRCOG. Libhart presented an overview of the Plan. Louisville has experienced recent growth and is expected to continue growing in residential population and even more in population of employees. The areas near McCaslin, on South Boulder Road, and at the CTC, for example, will likely see the most growth. To address this projected growth, the plan identified the main corridors for commuters in and out of Louisville. Today, 70% of commuters drive alone and 6% of commuters take public transit, 2% bike, 2% walk, and 13% telework. For all trips, 30% are three miles or shorter. Trips shorter than 3 miles are often accessible for people to use modes of transportations other than cars, so the Plan treats those trips as opportunities to make those other modes more accessible. Libhart stated that Louisville had a lot of pedestrian walkways and lots of sidewalks. The Plan identified three high -density zones for pedestrians, or "walk sheds." A map of the walk sheds showed that the sheds often end in transitional zones between downtown areas and nearby neighborhoods, meaning that people may not feel that the downtowns and the residential areas are well -integrated and accessible.