The Municipal Services Committee met 08/07/2023. The first item they received was an update from Alta Planning and Design on the Complete Streets Study Alta has been hired to conduct.
This study will review Appleton’s Enhanced Crosswalk Program as well as other street-related issues and help the city establish a set of strong foundational policies that will guide its roadway design efforts in the future. Alta is currently in the early stages of the process in which they have crafted a preliminary vision and outline for a Complete Streets Design Guide.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download.
City Traffic Engineer Eric Lom started things off by saying Alta, the Public Works Department, and the Community and Economic Development Department had been working hard to create the framework for the project and make sure they had the vision nailed down. They conducted interviews with Public Works, Community and Economic Development, Police, Fire, Transit, Parks and Recreation, people who develop land in the community, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and some alderpersons.
Colin Harris, Lisa Bender, and Maria Wardoku from Alta all contributed to the presentation. They explained that the Complete Streets Study was based on several existing plans and guidelines, including the…
- Comprehensive Plan
- Bike Lane Plan
- Trails Master Plan
- Complete Street Design Guidelines
- Enhanced Crosswalks
- Safety Projects
The final product of the study would include an update to the Complete Streets police, overall street design guidelines for Appleton, and enhancement and prioritization of the pedestrian crosswalk policy.
They expected to have a final product completed in October and to bring it forward for public comment in November.
Ms. Bender touched on the input gathered from stakeholders and noted “Safety for all ages and abilities is a high priority across all the stakeholder groups that we talked to.” Access to education was also mentioned by those interviewed. Additionally, practical concerns were raised such as taking budget constraints into account and planning for maintenance.
Mr. Harris presented a preliminary outline for the Complete Streets Design Guide. They wanted to include best practice guidance around traffic calming elements for all types and sizes of streets.
Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) asked if, as they were putting together the flowchart, they were looking to Appleton’s streets for examples of how they wanted to do thing, or if they were looking at streets in other communities for examples of what has already been done.
Traffic Engineer Lom said that the first thing they were trying to do was figure out what Appleton had to work with and, as an example, mentioned that the 36 foot wide streets in Appleton were challenging put bike lanes on without removing parking. So, staff was trying to understand the various types of scenarios they had for street, then they could look at the latest best practices and design guidance that was out there and figure out how to apply it to Appleton’s streets.
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) asked when the city’s Enhanced Crosswalk Policy had been created and whether best practices concerning pedestrian crossings had changed since then. Mr. Lom said they had been crafted in the 2014-2016 range and noted that practices around traffic calming were evolving very rapidly. He thought Appleton’s guidelines were pretty up to date, but they hoped the Complete Streets Policy update would help make sure they were getting the best outcomes for residents.
Alderperson Doran appreciated the mention of trying to factor in the cost of doing these additional projects as well as the ongoing maintenance of them. He thought the policy was a step in the right direction, but he also thought it was important to keep cost in mind.
Alderperson Vered Meltzer (District 2) really liked the design guide framework and thought it would allow Appleton to be consistent. “I think that that’s really helpful because I think that our streets are very complicated and this this framework makes it a lot simpler to mentally process.”
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1115707&GUID=0ECB7747-201B-4768-9FB6-E58412B60D53
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