Mapleton consultant unveils transportation master plan update, launches public survey

Jeremy Searle of WCG told the Mapleton City Council that WCG is updating the city's transportation master plan and has launched an interactive story map and short public survey to gather resident priorities and location-specific feedback.

Searle said the master plan is "a critical document that kind of guides the future transportation infrastructure in the city." He showed council members the story map, described how users can drop pins on locations of concern and answer a brief set of focused questions, and asked the council to help publicize the survey.

Council members and staff pressed Searle on outreach and detail. Searle said WCG will staff a booth at Pioneer Days (planned for July 19) and will use social media, the city newsletter and in-person events to push residents toward the online survey. He said paper comments will be accepted at the booth and that the city office can serve as a drop-off point for paper responses afterward.

On data detail and technical work, Searle described safety and travel-demand analysis in the draft plan. He said the plan examines crash history over roughly the last five years, highlights intersections identified in the Wasatch Front metropolitan planning organization (MAG) safety action plan, and recommends further intersection analysis. "Based on some of this analysis we also evaluated four different intersections in the city," Searle said, and reported that the team is recommending considering roundabouts at each location because they tend to reduce the severity of crashes compared with signals.

Searle also described travel-demand modeling that incorporates socioeconomic data and the region's long-range model to project future roadway volumes and to test where connectors or intersection control changes may be needed. He noted WCG has modeled a Maple extension connection to Canyon Creek Parkway in Spanish Fork and said the model shows the city is not likely to experience major volume-driven widening needs in most corridors.

Council and staff asked several questions about survey content and collection. Several members urged the consultant to collect optional location information (for example, a quadrant or neighborhood) so planners can correlate concerns with places. Searle said the survey will allow optional name and email fields for residents who want updates, and that WCG can add an optional quadrant question before public release.

On transit, Searle said the plan addresses public transportation but that the Utah Transit Authority currently has no major fixed-route service planned through Mapleton; UTA does operate a demand-response program called Via that can connect riders to FrontRunner stations. He said the team is coordinating with UTA and including transit considerations in the plan even though UTA's five-year service plan does not currently cover Mapleton.

Timeline: Searle said the consultant team is early in the process, will present initial findings to the planning commission and council later this year, expects an open house in the fall, and aims to finish the plan by the end of the year. He asked council members to encourage resident participation at Pioneer Days and through the online survey.

City staff and WCG will circulate the draft survey to council and staff for a final check, add an optional location field, and begin broad outreach once the city communications hire finalizes distribution plans.