The city of Tacoma held three public workshops in late September to gather information for a Mobility Master Plan, an effort that began last spring. The plan will create goals, policies and strategies for a safe pedestrian, bicycle and transit environment throughout Tacoma. City officials hope the public workshops will offer planning and policy guidance to achieve those goals.
Diane Wiatr, mobility coordinator and urban planner for the city, said the primary objective is to improve overall infrastructure throughout Tacoma.
“We would love to see more people walking and biking,” Wiatr said. “If the city has a more comprehensive network of biking trails and lanes, this could influence more activity. Being more bike-able, walkable improves quality of life.”
During one of the public workshops held at the University of Puget Sound on Sept. 28, participants had the chance to get information from various stations set up throughout the room. At one station, people were asked to categorize themselves into certain groups based on their biking experience level. Most people answered that they were “interested” in bicycling but they were “concerned” about the lack of safety on Tacoma’s streets.
This sentiment was echoed in a poster displaying the details of a 2008 study conducted by the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department, in partnership with Mobility Master Plan officials. According to the study’s respondents, the city’s highest infrastructure priority should be providing good sidewalks and safe paths for bicyclists.
Susan Garrett could not agree more. She is a Tacoma resident who bikes about 12 miles, three to four times per week.
“My husband calls it my ‘death perception,’” Garrett said. “We like to bike, but he doesn’t like the bike lanes out here. The cars are too close.”
After the plan is drafted, she hopes to see lower speed zones near bike lanes or lanes down streets with few cars parked on the side of the road.
Across the room at another table, participants were bent over a table holding markers and examining maps of Tacoma. They discussed gaps in current bike and sidewalk routes. Their ideas created a multi-colored web of current problem areas and possible future routes. A contributor to this masterpiece is Troy Hashagen. His brother works for the city of Portland, an avid bicycle and pedestrian-friendly city and one Tacoma hopes to model its mobility plan after. Hashagen said his commute from 6th Avenue in Tacoma to University Place via Jackson Avenue is problematic.
“There is no good way to get from 6th to Jackson on a bike,” he said. “There are a few trails but it’s mostly a hodgepodge. There just aren’t a lot of good lanes.”
Connecting and building upon current bike and pedestrian lanes is just one benchmark city officials hope to tackle as they draft their Mobility Master Plan this winter. The plan will also attempt to tie together bicycle, pedestrian, trail and transit elements from existing and ongoing plans, such as the Tacoma Dome Trails Study, the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan and the Tacoma City Center Parking and Mobility Strategy.
After the draft is completed in January, the city plans to host another series of public workshops early next spring to hear critiques and final suggestions. Tacoma City Council is scheduled to review and adopt the plan in June 2010, through the annual update of the city of Tacoma’s Comprehensive Plan.
For residents of the community who participated in the public workshops, the opportunity to have a voice in the process is greatly appreciated. Hashagen said he looks forward to watching the mobility plans come together.
“It’s been a very cool opportunity. I’m really excited that Tacoma is catching up with other cities.”
