Norman council hears AIM transportation master-plan update emphasizing active-transportation, airport protections and bridge program

Consultants from Garber presented the AIM Norman comprehensive plan update and transportation master plan at a City Council special meeting Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, outlining a 20-year vision that prioritizes active-transportation routes, runway protection for Max Westheimer Airport and a bridge program the consultants said covers about 90 city-owned bridges.

The consultants said the update builds on the city’s 2014 transportation plan and six other recent studies, and incorporates public feedback gathered at five to six open houses and multiple pop-up events. “Our role really was not to develop a update the 2014 comprehensive transportation plan,” Brett Cabiness of Garber said, describing the team’s work to apply the plan’s five guiding principles — mobility, maintenance, fiscal stewardship, economic vitality and multimodal access — to the city’s present conditions and projected 2045 land use.

The plan frames transportation as more than roads and bridges, the presenters said, and proposes a network of greenways and buffered side paths to attract “interested but concerned” users who will not use high-stress bike facilities. “We want low stress routes,” James Walden, a Garber lead urban planner, said. The active-transportation map shows off-street greenways, side paths…