CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For several years, Coastal Bend community members have been asking for improvements to the infrastructure. Some have specifically made please for cyclist safety. It's a matter many are urging city leaders to handle with urgency after several incidences of close calls, injuries, and even fatalities on Corpus Christi streets.
Click here to see the original story.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni said during an interview in May, that the city's bike plan was outdated. The last time the city adopted a plan involving bikes was 2016.
"We do have a bike master plan, but it's dated and this city council and myself and some of our team members aren't quite familiar with it. So it's pretty important to update it to be current, not only with bicycles, but with other modes of transportation like scooters which have become very popular." Zanoni said. "The city has been focused in the past four to five, maybe a little bit longer years, on the basics, which is vehicular transportation, making sure our road network is drivable. The city has had a record of neglect in that area."
However, the city manager said Corpus Christi has reached a point where the leaders can consider focusing on the other various modes of transportation, including bikes.
The Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) is in charge of creating different plans for regions it serves. In April, CCMPO started the process of plan development.
During Tuesday's City Council meeting, CCMPO provided a brief update. Its director, Robert MacDonald, said safety is a top priority. Their vision also includes developing mobility for several modes of transportation determined by a region's need.
"It's specifically an update on the bike and pedestrian planning element of our long-range 2050 long-range plan. So we look out 25 years in the future." said the CCMPO director, Robert MacDonald. "In this case, we have a former plan, the specific plan I'm talking about is the bike plan, and so we need to add the other elements of that. We're talking about bicycle projects, pedestrian projects, and ADA projects."
CCMPO is inviting city staff, stakeholders, and members of the community to get involved.
"We're gonna take our stakeholders and the public through the process to identify the highest priority projects. We're going to evaluate them with a performance based system. And we'll come up with eventually a list of projects and we're going to fund it. We have federal funds and state funds that we can bring to bare and fund these projects." said the CCMPO director. "We're going to do a call for projects and possibly fund these projects within a year or two."
CCMPO is covering two counties which include San Patricio County and Nueces County.
"We're going to look at the whole system from scratch. Our prior plan is something we can reference. But we're almost starting over. We're going to start with what is the need for the community for bicycles, pedestrians, and other users." MacDonald added.
Once the plan is completely developed, the City of Corpus Christi would have to either adopt the plan or make amendments. Plan development is expected to take about 18 months.
"But that doesn't mean we won't be having bike lane conversations in our construction work. The Bond Program, the Bond 2024 is a new program coming up next fall. And so as we will begin to scope new work. We'll be thinking of bike lanes and modes of transportation well in advanced of the completion of the plan." Zanoni clarified. "As we construct new roads today and improve our sidewalks and bike lanes, that's something that's ongoing. The Bike Master Plan will give us a greater emphasis, a greater focus and a greater plan to do that."
As an active member of the cyclist community, Zanoni said he recognizes the importance of safety for people on bikes riding through roadways.
"One thing we know is that not everybody has a vehicle. They may not have money to afford one or money to afford insurance. And some people don't want to ride a vehicle. They want to use the bicycle to stay in shape, to get to school, to get to their job, to recreate and so having multiple modes of transportation and a system that can handle that is important for a city that's competing to have people stay here to relocate here." he added. "So for us, it's important because it's a mode of transportation. It's a lifestyle behavior as well. Being able to support it where it's safe and this options for all modes of transportation is something very important for city planners, including myself and the city council."
Zanoni and MacDonald continuosly emphasized on the importance of the public's involvement, ideas and feedback.
You can visit https://www.corpuschristi-mpo.org to stay updated on this matter or to learn how you can participate.
