By Matt Gworek, chairman
and Rick Blauvelt and Michael Gorman, members
Carbondale Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Commission
We read with interest Patrick Hunter’s thoughtful guest opinion in February on growth, traffic and road design changes on Eighth Street. Hunter expressed concern that Eighth Street might be destined for significant increases in automobile traffic, and that the design changes underway on Eighth were incompatible with that destiny. The letter raises some good questions, and we would like to look more broadly at the issue.
Those of us on Carbondale’s Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Commission (BPTC) support the changes underway, but realize that the Eighth Street project demonstrates the need to improve our community’s long-term preparedness for change and growth. While designated as a multimodal (shared-use) street, improvements to Eighth Street were not addressed until a group of citizens requested changes to slow traffic and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Like the proverbial frog in a pot of cold water slowly brought to a boil, shared use and traffic patterns on Eighth Street were changing incrementally and many of us failed to notice and/or simply adapted. But for others, changing conditions had become unacceptable.
After consulting with design experts and the community at large, the Town determined that Eighth Street needed wide, straight, unobstructed, well-lighted sidewalks and narrower driving lanes. These are proven solutions to make streets safer and more inviting for all users. But, the process to land on these improvements was long, arduous and expensive. Our community can do better in the future. We need a long-term, multimodal plan designed to proactively and efficiently acknowledge and respond to change in a manner that meets the needs of all users while preserving and protecting our bike and pedestrian-friendly culture. The Town has begun the process of creating such a plan.
The BPTC was established in September 2010 through a resolution by the Board of Town Trustees. That resolution established a broad mission for the commission as an advisory group to ensure that all Town policies, plans, codes and programs are updated and implemented to strengthen the Town’s bicycle and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.
Additionally, BPTC would develop programs to encourage bike and pedestrian transportation, educate the community on safety and shared road use, and promote the benefits of bike and pedestrian use for personal health, reduction of congestion and protection of the environment. The commission meets monthly and consists of seven community volunteers. The town trustees assign one trustee as a liaison to attend each meeting along with the public works director.
Carbondale has a proud history as an equitable, eco-friendly, interconnected, “small-town” community that recognizes the importance of quality of life. A significant element in the Town’s character is full and safe access for everyone — especially our children — to schools, friends’ neighborhoods, health and wellness facilities, cultural activities, shops and other essential community resources, with or without a car.
But the pressures of growth are relentless, and too often communities find themselves reacting only after a town’s character is threatened. BPTC seeks to establish systems that proactively address the pressures of growth and ensure preservation of our town’s bike-pedestrian-transit-friendly culture.
When the trustees updated the Comprehensive Plan in 2022, they recognized the need to strengthen this culture. Their update called for the development of a master plan to create a long-term vision for multimodal transportation based on broad community outreach, forecasting of future growth and comprehensive analysis. “Multimodal” refers to all modes of transportation: bikes, feet, transit (buses) and cars. To achieve this objective, the trustees asked BPTC to help create parameters for that master plan.
Over the past few months, the BPTC has reviewed transportation multi-modal master plans from around the country. We now have a long list of ideas about existing multimodal infrastructure gaps, traffic calming designs, pedestrian crossing improvements (especially on Highway 133), national design templates such as Complete Streets, improvements in cross-town transit connectivity, and education and public outreach on shared use of our multimodal infrastructure. In March, the Town issued a Request for Proposals to identify and hire a professional consultant to help develop this multimodal mobility and access plan. The timeline calls for hiring that individual by the end of April.
The BPTC is excited about this next big step, and we look forward to sharing updates with the community. Our preliminary vision is to ensure safe and easy navigation of our streets and sidewalks for everyone through an integrated multimodal infrastructure that prioritizes biking, walking and transit use. Our position is that the Town’s character should be considered in all growth and development decisions.
Together, with our trustees, a professional consultant, town staff and community feedback, we believe we can create an interconnected, integrated and safe multimodal system that will be sustainable as Carbondale grows; a system designed to become a critical element in the town’s planning and development approval processes.
Carbondale’s Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Commission meets on the first Monday of every month from 6 to 7pm. The public is welcome to attend.