Memorandum

TO:

Craig Weinaug, Douglas County Administrator

David L. Corliss, Lawrence City Manager

Mike Press, Eudora City Manager

Chris Lowe, Baldwin City Manager

Lynley Sanford, Lecompton City Clerk

FROM:

Todd Girdler, MPO Senior Transportation Planner

CC:

MPO Policy Board , MPO Technical Advisory Committee , MPO Regional Transit Advisory Committee

Date:

September 24. 2013

RE:

Multimodal Studies Project  -  Brief Overview of Completed Work and Announcement of Ongoing  or Upcoming Activities

 

Brief Overview of Completed Work

 

The Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) kicked off the Multimodal Studies Project with the signing of a consultant contract on January 23, 2013. This planning study is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. A consultant team consisting of URS Corporation, Vireo, and Toole Design Group is working with the MPO to complete this project.

 

Over the last five months the project team sought input from the community through a variety of means including mobile meetings at events like a farmer’s market, an interactive mapping/comment tool that allowed people to click on a map to identify a concern area and create a comment describing their concerns, open house public information meetings where residents could talk to the project consultant team and MPO staff, numerous conversations at various committee meetings, and individual conversations with MPO staff. All of that community input has been blended with land use and transportation planning information to develop draft reports for the three transportation studies which comprise this project, including:

 

•           Commuter Park-and-Ride Study

•           Fixed-Route Transit and Pedestrian Accessibility Study

•           Countywide-Bikeway System Plan

 

These three studies (which are packaged into one project) are being created simultaneously and describe a detailed vision for greater multimodal transportation opportunities in the Lawrence-Douglas County Region. The overall goal of this planning effort is to identify and prioritize transportation needs for commuters, pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders for the next 5-to-10 years. Implementation of the studies’ recommendations will then happen as funding becomes available.

 

Announcement of Ongoing or Upcoming Activities

 

Public involvement and input are essential to the success of the Multimodal Studies Project. As a result, the MPO recently launched an online survey for the project, and the MPO staff wants to hear from you about these important transportation issues. A link to the survey is available on the project web page at www.lawrenceks.org/mpo/study now through October 15. Public participation in the survey will help the study team better define mobility needs and priorities in the region.

 

In addition to this online survey, the public is also invited to share their thoughts about the Multimodal Studies Project on Wednesday, October 9 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Tom Wilkerson Room of the Indoor Aquatic Center (4706 Overland Drive) in Lawrence. That meeting will be an Open House forum, and no formal presentation will be given. However, attendees will be able to hear the latest project news from the project team and ask team members questions and/or voice concerns about these transportation issues. Information available at the open house will describe the overall study, potential policy changes, short-term capital improvement projects, and long-term improvement concepts that are designed to help make the region’s multimodal transportation vision a reality. This open house and survey in October are the last two major public participation events for this project before it goes into the report drafting stage leading to its completion by December 31, 2013.

 

The MPO Staff wants to hear what you think about these transportation issues and hopes that you can attend the Open House and take the online survey. It is not yet too late for you to become involved in this planning project and to make your concerns known, but time is running short.

   

For more information, visit the project web page at www.lawrenceks.org/mpo/study. You can also contact Todd Girdler, Senior Transportation Planner, at (785) 832-3155 and tgirdler@lawrenceks.org or Jessica, Transportation Planner, at (785) 832-3165 and jmortinger@lawrenceks.org.