Commission reviews transportation

The citywide transportation plan should have a component to add transportation projects to the existing capital improvements plan, according to members of the Waynesboro Planning Commission.

That was one of the overall strategies of the transportation plan as presented to the commission. The other strategies presented during Tuesday’s meeting included amending the zoning and subdivision ordinances, develop and implement projects offering and promoting alternative transportation choices and measure the plan’s success.

Former city planner and current Assistant City Manager Jim Shaw said the Transportation Safety Commission and the Planning Commission should hold a joint meeting before the adoption of the plan. That, however, has been delayed due to the resignation of City Engineer Kim Cameron.

“Where the CIP is concerned, and especially this is the case with transportation, the mere adoption of the CIP enables us to accept cash proffers in a rezoning where they’re appropriate,” Shaw said. “The funding doesn’t necessarily all come from the city.”

David Bihl, Planning Commission chairman, said it needs to review the plan regularly to measure its success.

“Revisit the plan regularly and measure the success of the plan,” Bihl said, “something that says that we want to hold ourselves accountable as a city for what the thing said, to either change it or implement it.”

Shaw noted that some communities have report cards to determine how a community is doing on reaching its goals.

More specifically, the plan seeks, as a goal, to develop a balanced street network that includes all transportation options and the needs of the traveling public.

Bihl said he wanted to encourage more narrow streets and the least possible lighting.

He said the commission needs to talk with Waynesboro Police Chief Doug Davis and ask what the smallest amount of light is that the department would find acceptable to keep streets safe. 

“There’s a tipping point at which crime and its street incidents will go up,” Bihl said. “And if there is such a thing related to light, what is that tipping point and go exactly down to that.”

The same thing applies to street width, Bihl said. Streets too narrow would risk houses getting burned down because fire trucks would then not be able to get there.

The plan also encourages more pedestrian and bike use – including adding more sidewalks — and increased connectivity of neighborhoods while suggesting traffic calming devices in neighborhoods with speed problems. The plan also seeks to reduce impervious parking surfaces while balancing parking needs with its surroundings.

The next steps for the plan will be to see where the city stands on recruiting a city engineer and city planner, Shaw said. If it falls together, he said he would wait for new staff, and if not, forge ahead without them.

At that point, Shaw said the plan should undergo more public review before the City Council receives it.