Columbia road standards debated

A citizen commission, including representatives of the bicycling and walking community, have spent 2 and a half years negotiating new road standards for Columbia, MO. Now last minute opposition by Columbia Public Works staff is threatening their adoption. According to a Columbia Daily Tribune article:

Tomorrow night, the Columbia City Council will give a thumbs up or thumbs down to the proposed street standards. These guidelines would affect any new roads or sidewalks built in the city, requiring narrower streets and wider sidewalks.

When the street-standards committee issued its final proposal to the city council, most group members - including public works and fire departments - bought into it.

But some members of that committee have been skeptical of issues raised by City Manager Ray Beck and Public Works Director Lowell Patterson. Beck and Patterson recently advised council members to move slowly on the proposed standards.

The proposed street standards include everything from the width of streets and sidewalks to the inclusion of bicycle lanes, curb widths, and so on.