$63 million funded over 10-20 years: Cape Council hears Bike/Ped plan
It’s going to take time and money, but the Cape Coral City Council liked what it heard in regards to making the city much friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists.
Consultant Brad Davis of ULTA Planning & Designing spoke on the progress of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian master plan at the board’s monthly workshop Wednesday.
The scenario Davis unveiled is a proposed increase in sidewalks, multi-use paths, greenways and buffered bike lanes.
The cost of implementation of the 231-mile conceptual project promises to be steep, with a total cost of $63 million, which Davis suggested be allocated over a 10 to 20-year period, depending on how ambitious the city wants to be.
In the spring the community provided input on what they wanted in the master plan. The recommendations were drafted over the summer and presented to council Wednesday, which will consider adopting and implementing the plan.
Davis said the goal was to have the city achieve a Bicycle Friendly Community Silver Designation, and Walk Friendly Community designation, as well as increase the number of walkers and bikers, decrease the amount of crashes on major roadways, and build a network of bike paths and sidewalks.
With a growing population of younger people, the Bike/Ped plan is crucial for the city to sustain itself, as needs have changed along with the demographics, Davis said.
For those walkers and bikers, the major arteries contain the highest demand for those activities. Cape Coral Parkway, Del Prado and Santa Barbara boulevards and Pine Island Road are areas most in need of this demand.
And while the city has a great network of sidewalks, bikeways and multi-use paths, there are still gaps to fill, Davis said.
People most wanted improved safety, especially on those major roadways and intersections, connectivity for recreation and transportation and driver awareness and education.
That’s why they have sought infrastructure such as multi-use paths along roadways, bicycle friendly intersections and protected bike lanes. Programs include car-free street events, and bicycle and pedestrian safety campaigns and resource websites.
Some of the suggestions Davis presented didn’t come without issues, including the possibility of closing down one lane of traffic on already busy roadways and the ability to construct additional bike/ped lanes where land and space is very limited.
Then there’s the inclusion of 93 miles of sidewalks, 38 miles of greenways, 78 miles of buffered bike lanes and 22 more miles of multi-use paths. There are also 18 more miles that require more study to see what can be done with it, Davis said in his presentation.
The cost to fully implement would be about $6.3 million annually over 10 years, or $3.15 million over 20 years, which Davis said could be done with the help of private/public partnerships.
Mayor Marni Sawicki liked the idea, saying it could help city growth. But she, like others on Council, were concerned with where the money would come.
Councilmember Jim Burch said the city should look into getting money from grants and the county to help fund the project, and not go the route of tax increases or assessments.
“The county isn’t the culprit because it takes the money from the city, it’s what they’re accustomed to doing to build out other parts of the county. We’re asking them to show us where they spend our money. We might get some money back to take care of our business,” Burch said.
In other business, planner Wyatt Daltrey made a presentation on future land use map amendments for the Utility Expansion in North 1 and 2.
He said the vast majority of the area would change from SM (single/multi-family) to SF (single family), MF (multi-family) or PK (parks and rec). Some commercial activity center (CAC) would also become either single or multi-family.
The UEP, upon completion, will be able to encourage development at higher densities and remove ambiguity. Any future amendments to FLUMA are likely to reflect market-driven demands initiated by the private sector, Daltrey said.
“The city water, sewer, and irrigation infrastructure system has sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the proposed amendment,” Daltrey said in his presentation, and that staff recommended approval.