Our Opinion: Promoting walking, cycling in the Capital City

News Tribune editorial

Several Jefferson City entities are making a push to make our city more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Discover Jefferson City Foundation is planning to place bike racks strategically throughout Jefferson City, to make the city more welcoming to visitors and bicyclists.

The foundation is a group of volunteers who work cooperatively with the CVB to develop and promote tourism in Jefferson City. It plans to use raised funds to purchase the bike racks while working with the city to determine their final locations.

The plan dovetails with the city's efforts in creating a more bike-friendly community, through the most recent way-finding signage downtown and the approval of the pedestrian and bike plan that aims to improve the safety, connectivity and mobility for bikers and walkers, according to the CVB news release.

The pedestrian/bike plan was in the works for 1 years before being approved by the the Capitol Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) last October. The city's parks and planning and zoning commissions also have signed off on it, but it still needs final approval by the City Council.

The plan will look to:

  • Improve sidewalk connectivity, updating the city's sidewalk plan with the goal of improving access to schools, residential areas and local businesses.
  • Review policies and ordinances to include language about making streets, roads and sidewalks safe and accessible.
  • Develop signed bike lanes and routes.
  • Improve trail connectivity.
  • Improve pedestrian and bike safety measures.
  • Improve tourism and support economic development.

Among other things, it would educate and encourage people to walk and ride bikes more. Jefferson City's hilly terrain may pose an added challenge to achieving this goal. But we're encouraged that past efforts have paid off.

In the 1990s, Jefferson City held a series of "walkability" meetings targeting the downtown area. The result was adding "bulb-outs" into High Street to slow vehicle traffic and encourage foot traffic. As a result of this and other efforts, we have a more vibrant downtown now, with more people walking along High Street.

Throughout the '90s, the city's parks department also developed our greenway system, which is now interconnected through many parts of the city. The greenway, also called a "linear park," is well-used by city residents.

The pedestrian/bike plan is billed as a way to improve tourism and economic development. That's great, but to us the best benefits are the direct benefits to our residents: the entertainment, social and health benefits.

We urge the council to approve the plan.

Now, if city officials could just level off some of those hills