Walkers, runners, cyclists: time to speak up

COEUR d’ALENE — Upset with local bike and walking trails, or the lack thereof? Like something about local infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists? If you travel around town without a motor, you’ve got until March 30 to make your voice heard. The Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization wants you to take a survey and use a mapping program to show where things could be improved, and where things are working well, for non-motorized travelers.

“We need your input,” said Ali Marienau, transportation planner for KMPO. “A good, overall bike and pedestrian plan is extremely important” to the local organization, which is made up of governments and agencies in the metro area. Public input will help KMPO update its regional non-motorized transportation plan, which local city, county, and tribal governments will then use to guide their own infrastructure decisions. Marienau said Post Falls has several items in its transportation plan that stemmed from KMPO’s 2009 regional non-motorized transportation plan.

North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation Executive Director Todd Dunfield said “Transportation planning depends on accurate public input and this survey is the best way for the community to have its voice heard. The survey and wikimap are for everyone, not just regular bike commuters.” The issue affects everyone living here because sidewalks, trails, and paths “increase the livability of North Idaho,” Dunfield said.

This year’s update to the plan will focus more on data such as traffic counts of pedestrians and cyclists, identification of routes most commonly used for non-motorized transportation, and where problem areas exist along those routes, Marienau said. Connecting regional trails is another major focus of the non-motorized transportation plan, she added. Along with a survey, KMPO has invited the public to contribute anonymously to a wikimapping project that will provide planners with information on where improvements need to be made.

Former Ironman Coeur d’Alene race director Mac Cavasar serves on KMPO’s ad hoc committee. He encouraged people to “get involved in their individual community’s ped/bike and community development committees, as well as in all public comment/planning meetings on non-motorized projects.”

Two public workshops will also provide opportunities for members of the public to contribute their data. Those take place April 2 from 5-7 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library’s Community Room, and April 5 from 5-7 p.m. at the Post Falls Council Chambers.

Dunfield added, “This data has the opportunity to inform decision making processes for years into the future and everyone, not just the avid cyclist or pedestrian, should complete the survey.”

To take the survey, go to bit.ly/kmposurvey. To contribute to the wikimapping project, go to bit.ly/kmpowikimap. For more information on the survey or KMPO, go to kmpo.net or call 208-930-4164.