MoDOT announcing project list for $6 billion funding plan Friday; Public meetings across MO soon; Please attend & stand up for bike/ped!

For the past several years we have been working to integrate funding for bicycling and walking into Missouri's state transportation funding plan.

After fending off a last-minute attempt to removing bicycling from the proposed $6 billion Missouri transportation funding initiative in April, the plan is now set to appear before voters in August. 

MoDOT is planning how to spend over $5 billion in proposed new funding - and for the first time ever, bicycle and pedestrian projects are eligible

MoDOT is now preparing the project list for the new funding.  The statewide project list will be announced Friday, June 13th, at Noon.  Public comments will be accepted through July 3rd, 5pm (bottom of page).

MoDOT has set up a series of open house public meetings to show the project list, answer questions, and receive public comment.

This is the first Missouri statewide funding plan in history to allow bicycle, pedestrian, and trails projects to be included. When the statewide project list for the next ten years is announced Friday, we need to be sure it includes all the bicycle, pedestrian, and trails projects needed in your part of the state and across the entire state.

What you can do to help:

 * Visit the upcoming meetings all around Missouri (see right sidebar)

 * Send feedback via MoDOT's website here (bottom of page) (suggested messages below)

 * Make sure you MoBikeFed membership is current and/or make a special donation, so we can continue full steam to keep the pressure on this issue at the local and statewide levels across Missouri.  Literally hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake across Missouri.

Suggested Messages to MoDOT

We haven't seen the project lists yet!  They will be unveiled Friday.  We know that local champions were promoting some excellent bicycle and pedestrian projects in your area, but we do not yet know if those projects were included in the final list.

Preliminary project lists we have seen in some areas of the state have been absolutely excellent.  Others, honestly, have been very disappointing. 

Other states around the country are building transportation systems that are safe and inviting for people who choose to bicycle and walk

So it will be important to attend the meetings, see what MoDOT is proposing in your part of the state.  If it is clearly not meeting the needs of those of us who bicycle and walk, we need to let them know.

•  If good bicycle and pedestrian projects are included in the list, let MoDOT know you support those projects.
   
• If bicycle & pedestrian projects are notably missing, let them know, too.  What to look for and ask about:
  • Are bicycle and/or pedestrian projects listed all around the district, in all areas? Or just in a few places?
  • Many/most projects will be MoDOT road & highway projects. Will those new projects on MoDOT roads routinely include needed bike/ped elements, such as sidewalks and crosswalks in built-up areas and shoulders wide enough for bicycle use on common bicycle routes?
  • If shoulder improvements are listed, what will they look like?  How wide will the shoulders be?  We may not get wide shoulders on every single route, but in places often used by bicyclists and which have reasonably high motor vehicle traffic, we should definitely ask for them.
     
• Are needed bicycle and pedestrian elements being included in the road and highway projects on the list? Are sidewalks and crosswalks being built on road and highway projects that pass through populated areas?  Do road, highway, and bridge projects include shoulders wide enough for use by people who bicycle and walk, particularly in populated areas and where traffic volumes will be high?  Please specifically ask MoDOT staff about this at open houses, especially if it is not clear from project descriptions.
   
• What percentage of the funding will go to bicycle, pedestrian, trails, and transit projects?
   
• Has MoDOT used the sidewalk assessments--have been done in most Missouri cities with population 1000 or more--to identify needed sidewalk projects along MoDOT roads in all of these cities?  Have they looked at needed sidewalk and safety improvements to connect students to community schools? If not, why not?
   
• Many simple and much needed sidewalk projects such as this could be accomplished for a very small percentage of this funding.  Does the list include many such sidewalk projects? Is the MoDOT district systematically addressing sidewalk gaps and pedestrian safety on MoDOT roads that pass through populated areas? If not, why not?
   
• This new funding is the first to allow bicycle and pedestrian projects.  These projects are much needed in and you expect the MoDOT and its planning partners to include bicycle and pedestrian projects on any project list they submit and to give all parts of the district better access to bicycling and walking.  
   
• Are bicycle & pedestrian projects clustered in only one part or portion of the MoDOT district?  Or only certain cities or counties? If so, why?  What is MoDOT's plan to systematically address bicycle and pedestrian safety and access in the remaining parts of the district over the next ten years? Bicycle and pedestrian projects are relatively inexpensive in comparison with other transportation needs, and with this amount of funding it should be possible to make progress on (for example) pedestrian safety and access along MoDOT roads and highways in virtually every city and town in the state.
   
• Statewide, District-wide, Regional Bike/Ped Plans Needed: Let the MoDOT District know that over the next several years we would like to see bicycle and pedestrian plans created statewide and for every MoDOT District, every Regional Planning Commission, and every Metropolitan Planning Organization.  Some parts of the state already have these plans, but most do not.

What MoDOT has done to support bike/ped

As Missouri prepares to vote on the first-ever statewide transportation funding plan to allow spending on bicycling, walking, and transit along with roads and highways, MoDOT has done a great deal of preparation to integrate bicycling and walking into its design and plannings. 

On rural highways, bicycle accommodation can be as simple a rideable shoulder

A few steps MoDOT has taken:

• Fully integrated bicycling and walking into its recent Long Range Transportation Plan in a way we have never seen before. "Give Missourians Better Transportation Choices" is one of the four main objectives of the plan.
   
• Made significant updates and improvements to its bicycle and pedestrian engineering policy guide, including in its most recent version a reference to recent USDOT policy that "states that every transportation agency, MoDOT included, has the responsibility to improve conditions and opportunities to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems".
   
• MoDOT now assesses the need for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, such as sidewalks and crosswalks, on every project and builds them as a routine part of the project where needed. Keep this in mind when assessing the project list--many, many projects will include important bicycle and/or pedestrian elements, but it may be difficult to determine this based on the brief descriptions provided for the project.
   
• In recent discussions between the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation and MoDOT leadership, MoDOT has agreed to complete a statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan if the proposed new funding plan passes.
   
• MoDOT has worked with Regional Planning Commissions across Missouri to assess sidewalk conditions in every Missouri town with population 1000 or greater within one of Missouri's 19 RPCs.  The resulting sidewalk assessments show were sidewalks exist, where they need repair or replacement, and where the gaps in the sidewalk system are.
  
  The current project list is an excellent opportunity to address those needs in a systematic way.  Sidewalks are relatively inexpensive and it should be possible to address the most pressing sidewalk gaps or repair needed along MoDOT roads in nearly every Missouri community.

Photo credits:

• Waiting for MoDOT by Zaskem, FlickR. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0
• Urban Complete Street, courtesy National Complete Streets Coalition
• Bicyclist on Highway 13, MoBikeFed