From the Desk of...
News and Topics of Interest
| Month: | January 2003 |
| MPO: | Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization |
| Location: | Bloomington, Monroe County, IN |
| Topic: | Traffic Sheds, Multi-Jurisdictional Coordination, Environmental Justice and Alternative Transportation |
The
Bloomington MPO has started working on a Traffic Shed and Growth Management
project this year. This project is
funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) Small Urban and
Rural Planning grant program.
Project
Description
A vast number of vehicle trips taken outside of the Bloomington’s corporate limits, in Monroe County, occur on county maintained roads generally classified as local and collector roads. Often these roads are constrained by their current geometric design and ability to accommodate additional capacity. Though it is a generally agreed upon concept that at some point development along a rural road will exceed capacity, little has been done to better understand such a relationship.
Recent efforts by Monroe County, the
Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the INDOT have
attempted to gain a better understanding of current levels of traffic on
numerous roads throughout the County. These
efforts have included the collection of traffic counts, analysis of current
geometric design, and determination of the current levels of service.
This information has proven invaluable in both transportation planning
and throughout the development review process.
Traffic shed analyses builds upon this base of
information by identifying: roads which traffic generated by specific parcels
are expected to use (identification of the traffic shed); identifying excess
capacity within the traffic shed; transfer of capacity to dwelling units (excess
capacity trips to trips generated per dwelling unit); and allocation of dwelling
units or trips to parcels based upon area owned within the traffic shed.
These analyses help manage growth in relationship to
adjacent roads ability to handle additional traffic. It further provides a level of equity among property owners
to ensure one development will not utilize all of the “excess capacity”,
thus removing the development potential of remaining tracts of land.
Further, the impact upon arterials can be better evaluated and planned
for in a more systematic and predictable manner.
The proposal
The proposal is to conduct a series of “pilot”
projects in various locations throughout the County. These projects will include the following steps:
1.
Identification
of the traffic sheds
2.
Determination
of the current levels of usage
3.
Determination
of the remaining capacity
4.
Determination
of the maximum development potential
5.
Allocation of development to tracts located in the traffic shed
The purpose of conducting pilot projects is to allow a
comparison of a variety of scenarios throughout the county, such as differences
between rural areas and suburbanizing areas.
Further, the pilot projects allow the County and the MPO to determine the
effectiveness of the process prior to actually restricting or impacting property
owners. It is further anticipated
that this process, if successful, would be applicable to other areas of the
State of Indiana. Therefore, the
entire process will be carefully researched and documented so it may be easily
transferred to other locales interested in similar analyses.
Multi-Jurisdictional
Coordination within the MPO Study Area
Scott
Robinson, Senior Long Range Planner
Monroe County Planning Department recently initiated a process to create a policy task force to assist the county in updating their comprehensive plan. The task force is comprised of City and County officials, MPO representatives, business owners, and residents. The Task Force’s main purpose is to establish guiding principals and to provide information on what is commonly referred to as the “fringe” - the fringe is an area that encompasses the outer portions of the urbanized boundaries for the Bloomington/Monroe County MPO.
In 1996, the fringe was created when the City’s extraterritorial two-mile planning jurisdiction was reduced to areas within the established city limits, as well as areas intended for annexation by the adoption of a revised Monroe County Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Under this 1996 agreement, the City of Bloomington’s 1991 Growth Policies Plan (GPP) served as a comprehensive plan for areas within the fringe.
Currently, the City is in the final stages of adopting an updated 2002 GPP, which does not include the fringe area. Subsequently, this has initiated the process to update and adopt a new county comprehensive plan that will cover fringe areas. Establishment of the policy task force is the first step to achieve an effective updated county comprehensive plan.
Developing
a suitable plan for the fringe is an important component for the entire region.
The fringe contains land suitable for watershed protection, thoroughfare
and alternative transportation needs, greenways and gateway/scenic corridor
designation, and rural or urbanized development.
The importance of this update lies not only with coordinating the
comprehensive goals of the City, County, and the MPO, but it will help channel
the necessary resources and inform the decision-makers on desirable future land
uses.
This
past June, the Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
developed an Environmental Justice Policy
to guide its transportation planning policies and activities. As part of this
initiative, the Public Involvement Process
for the MPO was also completely revised. The Bloomington/Monroe County MPO has
always recognized the importance of developing an inclusive transportation
planning process that includes all affected populations. By developing an
environmental justice policy, the MPO increased its efforts and expanded its
public outreach, especially to minority/low income populations.
Developing
an environmental justice policy to guide transportation planning policies and
activities involved more than just the drafting of a statement. First, it
involved identifying a set of environmental justice principles that would guide
the MPO in addressing environmental justice issues. Next, it involved
identifying minority/low income populations in the MPO area. The MPO began to
analyze and map census information (such as income and ethnicity) to determine
the extent of these populations in the Bloomington area. Efforts to expand
citizen planning activities will be furthered with the adoption of the updated Public
Involvement Process document to include activities such as advertising
upcoming meetings (newspaper, radio, websites), a new citizens guide to
transportation, and a stronger effort to involve under-represented neighborhoods
in MPO planning activities.
The
following documents have been developed as a result of the Bloomington/Monroe
County MPO environmental justice initiative and efforts to increase citizen
participation:
Bloomington/Monroe
County MPO Environmental Justice Policy Statement
The
Environmental Justice Policy Statement
emphasizes the Bloomington/Monroe County MPO’s commitment to equitable and
inclusive transportation planning. The document was adopted on November 8, 2002
by the MPO Policy Committee. To
view a copy of the Policy Statement please visit http://www.city.bloomington.in.us/planning/mpo/envirojustice/ejindex.html
The Public Involvement Process document is in the final draft stage, and scheduled for adoption in January 2003. The document is a detailed description of the Bloomington/Monroe County MPO’s public involvement policies and procedures, background and statistical information, as well as environmental justice principles. To view a copy of the Policy Statement please visit http://www.city.bloomington.in.us/planning/mpo/envirojustice/ejindex.html
Moving
Along- A Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Planning (under development)
This
document is being developed as a shorter, simplified version of the Public
Involvement Process. It is intended to give citizens an understanding of
what an MPO is, how the regional transportation process works, and how they can
get involved.
Alternative
Transportation and Greenways Planning within the MPO
Tricia
Collingwood, Senior Transportation Planner
In 2002 the Alternative Transportation and Greenways System Plan saw a lot of action for its first full year of implementation. The planning process was led by the City in 2001 and included the Bloomington/Monroe County MPO as a key partner in the plan. With an annual allocation of $500,000 from City Council, the Greenways Plan was in full swing with bike lane projects, sidepath/sidewalk projects, and a multi-use trail and bridge construction. By the end of the summer new projects were being designed and were bid out at the end of 2002 to include more bike lanes in the downtown, increased bike route signage, sidepath projects, and a 120-foot bicycle/pedestrian bridge.
The
Greenways Plan is attracting considerable attention from citizens,
bicycle/pedestrian professionals and key decision-makers in both the City and
County. Some of the 2002 hi-lights
of are:
·
This past
summer the City Council approved a new position (starting January 2003) within
the City Planning Department for a Senior Transportation Planner that would be
dedicated solely to bicycle/pedestrian issues in the MPO study area and the
implementation of the Greenways Plan.
·
In
September the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington DC held a day-long
workshop in Bloomington with over 100 attendees! The success of the workshop encouraged a group of citizens to
form a ‘Friend of the Greenways’ group to help support the Greenways Plan
and work towards identifying new projects.
·
A
Transportation Enhancement Grant of $500,000 was also awarded to Bloomington
this fall for a new multi-use trail project along Jackson Creek.
·
In
November the MPO Policy Committee unanimously voted to incorporate the Greenways
Plan into the Bloomington/Monroe County Year 2025 Transportation Plan.
With the amendment into the 2025 Transportation Plan, alternative
transportation and trail projects are now eligible for Transportation
Improvement Program funds and MPO staff are pursuing the idea of extending the
Greenways Plan limits to the MPO boundaries.
The long-term goal is to have a county-wide alternative transportation and greenways plan within the next few years, to complement the City’s current plan. In the short-term, the City and MPO will continue to implement the Greenways Plan and pursue the purchase and development of an urban greenway on a 60-acre CSX Rail Switchyard and rail line that runs through the downtown.