Change may come to Dayton region’s streets

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer 9:44 PM Thursday, November 12, 2009

We could be approaching a new era in the design and function of streets and roads in the Dayton region.

Last Friday, Nov. 6, close to 40 officials from 30 governments, businesses and agencies (along with another 15 interested observers) gathered for a daylong workshop on how to create complete streets. Put on by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and other regional sponsors, the workshop featured two nationally known experts who talked about and led activities focused on what complete streets are and how to get them.

“For too many years we’ve built roads for people passing through communities,” said consultant Michael Ronkin, a former bicycle and pedestrian program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. “I think Dayton is very, very ripe to be a city that reinvents itself, is a great place for the people who live there, and doesn’t focus so much energy and infrastructure and money on getting people out of town.”

The workshop is the beginning of an initiative by the MVRPC to develop a complete streets policy for the region, said Don Spang, the agency’s executive director.

The next step, Spang said, will be to convene a group of engineers and planners to draft a policy.

Complete streets policies often require that designs accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and the disabled whenever a street is resurfaced or rebuilt.

The region’s comprehensive bikeway plan, adopted last year, recommended a regional complete streets policy, but Montgomery and Greene county engineers, among others, objected and all specific language was cut out.

Despite that, Spang and Ronkin both believe such a policy can be developed for the region. The MVRPC has been supportive so far, Spang said. “I’m real encouraged,” he said. “I think we’re moving forward.”

Ronkin said he and Dom Nozzi, who helped put on the workshop, spent a lot of time talking with participants about how to make the policy work for all governments as well as users.

County engineers, for example, are worried the policy would require them to install bike lanes or other amenities on rural country roads. But Ronkin said a successful policy must have an exception process, and that a complete street in a rural setting is very different from one in the city.

Miami County Engineer Doug Christian said he wants to see specifics, but thinks he can “live with it.”

“I think MVRPC understands that no doubt there will have to be some different requirements in rural areas,” Christian said.

Jennifer Gallagher, an acting deputy director for the agency’s planning division, said she attended the workshop to support MVRPC’s effort and show the state’s interest in complete streets. The agency is pursuing three pilot complete street projects, including one in Dayton.

“I was very excited to see so many different communities there working on this as one, because it does need to be a regional effort,” Gallagher said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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You want to accommodate bikes? Bike lanes don't help. They just get filled with broken glass and other junk. And they confuse people at intersections and get bikers run over by the turning cars.

If a street has enough room for a bike lane, it has enough room without the bike lane stripe. Forget the stripe. Give it a "share the lane" marking and give a ticket to any driver who passes a bike too close. It's easy and it's way cheaper.

Rob
2:41 PM, 11/15/2009

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Let's see , we have lanes for cars, bikes, pedestrians and streetcars, and the fast trains. now we can be the first in the country to get one for Segways. But do we need all these lanes for travel when no one has a job! Why not focus on that. But I guess if all the streets lead OUT of Dayton it will be ok.

George Jetson
8:15 AM, 11/13/2009

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Complete streets! Ok another way to spend money we don't have. And why wouldn't you build something to get the heck out of town. No reason to stay and get shot at a gas ststion.

Carl
7:41 AM, 11/13/2009

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Where did they find money for this? Thought they were broke.

Wondering
2:32 AM, 11/13/2009

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Time for a bicycle tax to pay for construction and maintenance.

Concerned
1:26 AM, 11/13/2009

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