pg 1 KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE PLAN KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE MASTER PLAN pgpg i 2 Acknowledgements Planning team: Planning advisory committee members: City of Kirkwood elected officials: Carey Bundy, The Great Rivers Greenway Steve Coates, Parks Board Honorable Arthur J. McDonnell, Mayor David Eagleton, Citizen Kim Fitzgerald , Meramec Community College Gerry Biedenstein, City Council Carol Gilster, Parks Board Gina Jaksetic, City Council Alan Hopefl, Parks Board Paul Ward, City Council Nancy Luetzow, City Council Bob Sears, City Council Madt Mallinckrodt, Planning and Zoning Commission Nancy Luetzow, City Council Marsha Marden, Business Owner, Chamber of Commerce Tim Griffin, City Council Ryan Moore, Citizen, Small Business Owner Tobi Moriarty, Saint Louis County Highways and Traffic City of Kirkwood administrators: Donna Muellner, Citizen James Myers, Board of Adjustments Ryan Spencer, City Planner Donna Poe, Downtown Kirkwood Murray Pounds, Parks & Recreation Director Robert Trottmann, Citizen Todd Rehg, City Engineer Michelle Voegele, Missouri Department of Transportation Bill Bensing, Public Services Director/ Water Director Frank Wentz, Citizen Denise Whitworth, Citizen Trailnet: Cindy Mense, Director of Programs Marielle Brown, Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Manager Meredith Klekotka, TravelGreen Manager Heartlands Conservancy: Sarah Vogt, GIS Technician KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE MASTER PLAN pg 3ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1 BENEFITS OF A WALKABLE AND BIKEABLE COMMUNITY ....................................................................................... 3 EXISTING CONDITIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 EXISTING PLANS .....................................................................................................................................................................10 PLAN PRIORITIES AND PARAMETERS ............................................................................................................................14 RECOMMENDATIONS: EDUCATION ...............................................................................................................................................................14 ENFORCEMENT .......................................................................................................................................................16 ENCOURAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................................18 ROUTES AND PRIORITIZATION ......................................................................................................................... 20 PEDESTRIAN ROUTES AND PRIORITIZATION ................................................................................ 20 BICYCLE ROUTES AND PRIORITIZATION ......................................................................................... 28 DESIGN GUIDELINES ............................................................................................................................................. 44 EVALUATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................................................ 61 PEDESTRIAN COST ESTIMATES ......................................................................................................... 63 BICYCLE COST ESTIMATES ................................................................................................................... 66 FUNDING SOURCES ............................................................................................................................... 68 APPENDICES A. COMMUNITY SURVEYS AND ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................72 B. PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARIES ............................................................... 80 C. PUBLIC OUTREACH EVENT SUMMARIES ................................................................................................... 89 D. PEDESTRIAN PRIORITIZATION TABLE ........................................................................................................ 94 PLEASE SEE PLAN SUPPLEMENT, “COMMUNITY FEEDBACK” FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE MASTER PLAN pg 1 INTRODUCTION The planning approach centered on broad Introduction community engagement to develop a robust dialogue around the possibilities and In 2014, the City of Kirkwood started working challenges in Kirkwood. Trailnet worked with with Trailnet to create a 15-year plan for the City staff to identify community events enhancing walking and biking in streets and in where the planning team could reach out to parks in Kirkwood. The Kirkwood Pedestrian residents. Working with the Planning Advisory and Bicycle Master Plan will help the City Committee, the planning team hosted an Early make decisions to leverage the limited funding Action Project designed to engage residents in available for biking and walking, including: their community. • Prioritize investments in walking and A diagram showing the planning process biking based on cost, available right-of-way, and how community input was integrated Planning Advisory Committee Meeting and strengthening the overall network; throughout is on the next page. • Encourage routine maintenance and upgrades to be opportunities to improve the biking and walking network; • Strengthen applications for state and federal funding; and • Identify opportunities for encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation. The planning process was initiated in the beginning of 2014 and was finished in February 2015. The plan encompasses the City of Kirkwood. Connections to planned and existing routes in the Great Rivers Greenway network were also considered. The elements of that planning process are shown in Figure 1. The vision of the residents of Kirkwood was the basis for the planning recommendations. Their vision of Kirkwood as a walkable and bikeable community, along with the needs identified in the outreach process, guided the planning priorities, and are integrated throughout the Mayor McDonnell is active in working for better walking plan. and biking in Kirkwood. KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE MASTER PLAN INTRODUCTION pg 2 Figure 1: Planning Process Data collection and analysis! Public Outreach! PLANNING PROCESS • Existing infrastructure! ! • Current plans and policies! Community Survey! • Base mapping! ! • Priorities assessment! 1st Planning Advisory • Committee Meeting ! Early action projects ! Existing Conditions identification! Community Outreach Report! Events! ! Plan drafting and compilation! ! • Infrastructure map! ! • Design guidelines! ! • Phasing recommendations! 2nd Planning Advisory Plan Parameters and • Pre-engineering cost Committee Meeting! Priorities! estimates! ! • ! Funding sources! • ! Education, encouragement, ! enforcement, equity, and 3rd Planning Advisory evaluation opportunities! Committee Meeting! Draft Pedestrian and ! Bicycle Master Plan! Public Review and Neighborhood Tours! ! ! Final Advisory Early Action Project and Committee Meeting ! Final Plan! ! City Council Presentation! ! Implementation! KIRKWOOD PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE MASTER PLAN pg 3 BENEFITS OF A WALKABLE AND BIKABLE COMMUNITY • When San Francisco improved biking and Benefits of a walkable and walking access on Valencia Street, two- bikeable community thirds of merchants said the increased levels of bicycling and walking improved business.4 In a recent national report on walkable urbanism and its market impacts, Kirkwood was identified By becoming one of the best places to walk as the only Walkable Urban Place in Saint Louis and bike in the region, Kirkwood can increase County outside of the central corridor along I-64. home values, improve residents’ access to local The national study that recognized Kirkwood’s shopping and schools, and attract regional walkability found that walkable urban places residents to local businesses. have had strong market success and are likely to have high demand in the future.1 Population trends During the outreach process, several young families said Building on current success will allow Kirkwood While Kirkwood’s population has declined they chose to live in Kirkwood based on walkability. to become a more vibrant place and a premier somewhat since reaching a peak population community of choice in the region. Results of 31,679 in 1970, the US Census Bureau Demographics and transportation choices from other cities suggest walkable and bikeable currently projects slight growth in the city’s streets attract investment, increase property population. According to the 2010 Census, Shifting preferences in travel modes can be values, reduce congestion, and cost less to build Kirkwood’s population was 27,540, a slight seen in the numbers of vehicle miles traveled and maintain than traditional roads. increase from its 2000 population of 27,324. (VMT) in the St. Louis region. Between 2007 A few of these indicators can be found in the and 2011, the number of vehicle miles following references: The US Census Bureau’s population forecasts traveled (VMT) decreased 4.5% in Saint Louis do not take into account the growing interest County, well over the national