City paving the way for more cycling, walking opportunities
It’s a question city planners field more than almost any other: What’s being done to make Greenwood a friendlier place for cyclists and pedestrians?
“There is a surprisingly strong cycling community here in Greenwood. Behind sign permits and plat approvals, the most emails and phone calls I get are from cyclists asking what we are doing as far as bike lanes,” City/County Planner Josh Skinner said.
An ordinance working its way through the City Council seeks to provide an answer by requiring any new developments to include bike lanes and connect future sidewalks to the existing network.
Both policies are taken from a city-approved 2015 Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and an updated countywide comprehensive plan.
“The whole purpose of this ordinance would be to create a more interconnective city,” Skinner told the City Council at a Monday work session.
Local and statewide cycling groups helped provide input on the ordinance, Skinner said.
Creating new places to cycle and walk isn’t the only requirement under the policy. Developments with more than 12 parking spaces would have to install bike racks.
“While Greenwood currently lacks many on-road bicycle facilities, there are numerous assets and opportunities throughout the community that provide a strong base for facilitating a safe, accessible, and convenient bicycle network. Though Greenwood has a substantial network of existing sidewalks in the city center and in its traditional neighborhoods, gaps in pedestrian infrastructure and a lack of pedestrian intersection improvements limit overall connectivity and pedestrian safety and comfort,” the 2015 master plan concluded.
If adopted, the ordinance will partner with financing in place to enhance the city’s alternative transportation opportunities.
Of the $5.57 million allocated for various park and recreation projects through a voter-approved capital projects sales tax, $596,078 is earmarked to convert an abandoned railroad right-of-way from Mill Avenue through West Cambridge Park to Lander University’s Jeff May Complex into a bike path, connecting Lander to the Greenwood Mall.
Officials are also anticipating making improvements from Lander to Uptown Greenwood by paving a second right-of-way from Grace Street to Cambridge Avenue East.
Greenwood Parks and Trails Foundation President Billy Nicholson wrote in the application to the penny sales tax commission that an expanded trail system for pedestrians and cyclists could push the city into the minds of young families looking to relocate.
“Greenwood has the foundation and momentum to become a community where walking and bicycling are normal transportation and recreation choices,” he wrote. “Trails in other communities have been shown to be attractors for regional visitation.”
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Apr 7, 2018
By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com