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New draft thoroughfare plan emphasizes multimodal design, sidewalks for school safety and living‑document updates
Summary
The Area Planning Commission presented a draft thoroughfare plan that expands the urban boundary, integrates bike lanes, trails and transit, requires complete‑streets compliance for public and private improvements, and calls for sidewalk and drainage projects to address student safety and connectivity.
At its July 2025 meeting the Technical Transportation Committee received a presentation on a draft thoroughfare plan prepared by the Area Planning Commission (APC). The plan updates road widths and right-of-way guidance, expands the urban area boundary to reflect projected development, and integrates multimodal elements including bike lanes, trails and transit accommodations.
The APC presenter said the new plan uses two criteria — urban/rural designation and functional classification — and that it replaces the older functional classification with the Federal Highway Administration system. The presenter described the plan as broader than the prior document, noting it “includes a lot of new information” and adds bike lanes, trails and transit considerations to the roadway recommendations.
The draft adds policy changes intended to reduce staff time for future amendments: if future census or long‑range plan decisions extend the urban boundary, the thoroughfare plan will automatically update to match those approved boundaries. The presenter said that approach was chosen to avoid repeated full amendments.
A major change would extend complete‑streets compliance beyond projects that use federal gas‑tax funds. The presenter said the policy is “fluid” and can vary by context, and the plan recommends that private developments on or near bus routes plan for bus stops and safe pedestrian access to transit. The presenter noted concerns about student safety, citing two road safety audits and local incidents, and described a large Harrison‑area project that would add sidewalks, trails, drainage and intersection work with an estimated cost “over $20,000,000.”
The draft also calls for adherence to ADA standards, replacement of damaged street trees in the tree lawn during development, differentiated right‑of‑way and lane widths depending on on‑street parking and bike/trail presence, and design standards for driveways near intersections. The cross‑section drawings will be prepared by a contracted firm and added after plan adoption.
APC staff said the draft is posted on the agency website and that staff have begun targeted outreach, offering one‑on‑one briefings to jurisdictions, groups and agencies to solicit detailed feedback before finalizing the plan.
