Huntersville staff present draft Mobility Plan recommending complete streets, multiuse paths for most roads

Town of Huntersville planning staff on Oct. 12 presented a draft Mobility Plan that lays out context-sensitive "complete street" cross sections, identifies gaps near schools, parks and activity centers, and calls for multiuse paths or separated bicycle and pedestrian facilities along the majority of the town's corridors.

The presentation said the plan grew from the town's Vision 2040 Community Plan and a CRTPO planning grant. "The town should promote multimodal connectivity to activity centers through on-street improvement, strategic sidewalk projects, and the greenway network," the presenter said, summarizing the plan's intent.

Why it matters: Huntersville has grown rapidly, the presentation said, from about 3,000 residents decades ago to "nearly 70,000" now, while the street network has not kept pace for pedestrians and bicyclists. Staff told the group that roughly 70% of the town's roadways have neither sidewalks nor bike lanes, about 20% have sidewalks only, and fewer than 8% have both sidewalks and bike lanes. The plan recommends multiuse paths or separated facilities on roughly 90% of corridors…