Public meeting scheduled for “Complete streets” project prioritization plan on 12/13/18

A public meeting will be held on Thursday December 13^th at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall auditorium to initiate the development of a Complete Streets Project Prioritization Plan.

 

A “Complete Street” is one that is designed to provide and encourage safe options for all users and travel modes, so that pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages and abilities can move safely and comfortably on a street along with motorists (as opposed to a street corridor that is primarily for motorized vehicles).  Designing streets with these principles for travel between home, school, parks, stores, work, and other destinations contributes to the livability and quality of life in our community, as well as people’s safety, health, and the community’s overall economic viability.

 

The Newburyport City Council adopted a Complete Streets policy on 1/29/2018 with the goal of making places safer and more livable, promoting public health, and trying to reduce traffic congestion and environmental impacts.  In general, our community’s transportation network is dominated by motor vehicles, and we have just begun in recent years to focus on a more balanced approach.  As noted in the policy, City officials are taking a network approach that ranks and prioritizes transportation infrastructure projects that will connect important destinations and address streets with known safety and/or bicycle and pedestrian connectivity problems.

 

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation established a Complete Streets Funding Program in 2016 that requires communities to establish Project Prioritization Plans in order to be eligible to apply for construction funding of up to $400,000.  The City applied for and received a grant of $35,000 from the state to hire a consultant to develop the required plan, and we have recently contracted with TEC, Inc. to prepare the plan.  We hope to finalize the Project Prioritization Plan in approximately three months in order to meet the deadline to apply for the state grant funding in the spring of 2019.  We anticipate that the City will host one more public meeting in late January 2019 in order to review the Project Prioritization Plan developed.

 

For more information, contact Geordie Vining, Senior Project Manager in Newburyport’s Planning Office, at (978) 465-4400 x6.