Robertson County Growth online survey

Online Survey Available for Input on Growth and Development Plan for Robertson County and the cities of Adams, Coopertown and Cross Plains
Survey is in Addition to Four Community Workshops Scheduled December 3-6

Springfield, TN – Residents now have the opportunity to provide needed input on the Robertson County Growth and Development Plan from the comfort of their home or office. Project officials have established an online survey to make the process as convenient as possible. The survey can be found under “Give Us Your Feedback” at www.RobertsonChamber.org/Growth.  There is also a series of workshops scheduled December 3-6, providing additional opportunities for feedback.

“We can’t stress enough how important the input of residents and business owners is for the success of this project,” said Jonathan Garner, chair of the project’s steering committee. “This plan will affect everyone in some way, so providing ample opportunity to have issues addressed is very important to us.”
               The survey provides a series of 13 questions that allows the participant to answer in his or her own words. Questions range from where new housing should be located to which new industries may be good additions to the local economy. There is also a feedback section to openly address any issue not presented in previous questions. 

Residents are also encouraged to attend one of four Community Workshops to learn more about the plan. The workshops are scheduled for Monday, December 3 through Thursday, December 6.  Consultants with Littlejohn Engineering Associates, Inc. will lead the discussions. See a complete listing of the dates, times, and locations for each workshop on the following page.

                                                                             

Economics of Bike/Walk infrastructure followup: Portland's example

From a previous post, the $60 million figure that Portland, OR spent on cycling infrastructure over the years was mentioned, and that the cost was around the cost of a single mile of 4-lane urban freeway.

Question: strictly from an economic point-of-view, was the money well spent, especially when we consider the fact that even in Portland, cycling mode share is around 5% of all trips. The answer is a resounding yes. Here's why.

Distracted Driving Legislation Advances

SB 1171 - HB 1007 that expands the definition of distracted driving and increases penalties for harming a pedestrian or cyclist advanced by passing the full state Senate on Thursday. The interesting (to say the least) discussion can be found here. The next action is in the full House Transportation Committee.

If your representative is on the House Transportation Committee give them a call.

Classes of bicycle facilities

Yesterday's blog post described the changes in Congress as well as how Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA-52) mentioned in an interview about how he felt cycling is more of a recreational rather than a transportation thing. (As a side note, this Rep. Hunter is the successor of long-term and probably better known Rep. Duncan Hunter.)

Yes, it is true that a good deal of cycling is done for recreational purposes. But a good deal of cycling is also done for transportation, due to its convenience and low price, in addition to the built-in exercise. One who rides for transportation gets a workout just by going where one was going anyway. A variety of facilities exist, and facilities can be classified into three classes.

New Bicycle and Pedestrian Policy at TDOT

On the heels of a successful meeting with Governor Elect Bill Haslam's staff on this past Friday, Bike Walk Tennessee advocates were pleased to read that the Tennessee Department of Transportation has recently strengthened its bicycle and pedestrian policy.  The entire policy can be viewed here, but this is a list of major improvements to the policy: