Major new initiative announced: MoBikeFed partnering with MoDOT to identify most needed bike/ped/ADA projects in Missouri

Today at the Midwest Bicycle Expo I am announcing a major new working relationship between the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation and its partners across the state and MoDOT and its transportation partners.

MoBikeFed will work with its partners to identify the highest priority bicycle, pedestrian and ADA projects across Missouri.

MoDOT will work with its partners to identify the highest priority and most practical of those--and then get to work planning and building them.

Submit your highest priority bike/ped/ADA project ideas here.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO IDENTIFY HIGH PRIORITY BIKE/PED PROJECTS

We need your help in three ways:

 * Please submit your project ideas--the best, most needed, highest priority bicycle, pedestrian, or disabilities-related projects in your area--on our web site:

   http://MoBikeFed.org/HighPriority

 * We have identified Local Working Groups in over 20 locations across Missouri.  If you are interested in helping your Local Working Group identify, evaluate, and prioritize the Local Priority Project List for your area, just email me (director@mobikefed.org)

 * If you are an elected or public official, the Local Working Groups will need your help an assistance in working with municipalities across Missouri to identify projects and coordinate with MoDOT District staff.

EXPEDITED TIMELINE

This initiative is on a very expedited timeline:

 * Project suggestions accepted at MoBikeFed.org/HighPriority through February 23rd

 * Local Priority Project Lists from across Missouri due by March 5th

 * These will be compiled into Missouri Bicycle, Pedestrian, and ADA Priority Projects List by late March

 * MoDOT and its partners will select the very best, most needed projects for their Missouri High Priority Project List by May or June

Our goal is for each local area to have at list 5-10 key projects on its Local Priority List, creating a Missouri Priority List of at least 100-200 projects.

MoDOT will then select a certain percentage of those for its own Missouri High Priority List.

BACKGROUND 

This project came about because of the time and effort many of you have spent supporting a Complete Streets policy in Missouri.

We recently had a meeting with MoDOT Chief Engineer Kevin Keith, MoDOT Nonmotorized Transportation Engineer Melissa Anderson and others.

The reaffirmed MoDOT's work to improve their bicycle, pedestrian and ADA policies internally and to work to make sure these policies are actually followed on MoDOT projects all across the state.

And they are working hard to change MoDOT's culture--see for instance MoDOT's new Pedestrian Policy, which mirrors the most important language we had proposed in the Missouri Complete Streets bill, to fully consider the needs of pedestrians in EVERY MoDOT project and reach out to key groups in the area to find out their real needs:

A similar revision of the bicycle policy is in the works.

And MoDOT has been working overtime implementing ADA standards as well.

Though many of these changes in MoDOT policy and practice are now in the works, the public has not seen many results yet--because the projects resulting from this new MoDOT commitment are still in design or very early construction phases.

So we asked MoDOT to make a visible, public sign of its new commitment, both to the public and to its own employees and contractors--and not just a gesture, but an initiative that will actually make a real, tangible difference in making Missouri a better, safer place to walk and bicycle in the very near future.

The result is this initiative to identify priority bicycle, pedestrian, and ADA projects and then work with MoDOT and its transportation partners to actually the best, most needed, and highest priority projects built over the next few years.

Click here to find out more and submit your best, most needed, and most wanted projects.