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Farmers Branch sustainability committee backs active transportation plan, urges council review
Summary
The Farmers Branch Sustainability Committee voted to recommend the city's Active Transportation Plan to city council, highlighting safety priorities, funding pathways and a July target for council action.
The Farmers Branch Sustainability Committee voted to recommend the city's Active Transportation Plan to the City Council and asked staff to advance the plan for council review.
Committee members said safety and connectivity drove the plan's prioritization and that adopting a city plan will make the city more competitive for outside grants. Alex, a sustainability staff member, told the committee the plan is scheduled for an informational presentation to council on June 3 and that staff intends to seek council approval at the July 15 meeting.
The Active Transportation Plan lays out short-term (0'to'5 years) and longer-term projects across several facility types, including sidewalks, bike lanes, shared-use paths and bicycle boulevards. "Safety was actually ahead of connectivity," Alex said, summarizing the plan's community input priorities. Alex also said the plan identifies priority areas around schools and city facilities, where pedestrian connections and lighting improvements could be concentrated.
Committee members asked how projects would be funded. Alex said the city currently has trail bond funding available for about two more years and that some projects already have dedicated funding. For other projects the plan lists potential outside funding sources and staff will pursue grant opportunities after adoption. Alex said the city has completed a preliminary grant application for a trail that would run along the Inwood/Encore easement and that a detailed application is due in June.
Members discussed implementation sequencing. Alex said the plan includes a scoring system that pushes higher-scoring safety and connectivity projects into the near term and spreads different project types across short- and long-term lists so the city would not focus exclusively on one mode.
After discussion, the committee made a motion to provide a recommendation to City Council for adoption of the Active Transportation Plan. The motion carried (no opposed votes were voiced at the meeting), and committee members asked staff to provide regular updates on implementation and associated funding requests.
The recommendation does not itself change the city budget; committee members will rely on staff and council to allocate funds or pursue outside grants for individual projects if the plan is adopted by City Council.
