Middleton committee reviews draft Active Transportation Plan, urges clearer priorities and a named implementation champion

The Middleton Sustainability Committee on Tuesday reviewed a draft Active Transportation Plan developed by the city’s Ped Bike and Transit Committee and provided feedback on priorities, maintenance and who will shepherd implementation.

Scott, the plan’s lead presenter, summarized the document as a public primer that prioritizes walking, biking, rolling and transit connections and uses concise one‑page summaries for each strategy. "Active transportation refers to ways of getting around that prioritize walking, biking, rolling, and other human powered travel along with supportive transit connections," Scott said during his presentation.

Committee members commended the plan’s comprehensiveness and its bicycle network and heat maps, noting the maps show recurring safety concerns at several intersections. A member asked about the Century Avenue crossing at the Pheasant Branch Trailhead; Scott said the existing land bridge is on the city’s replacement plan and that reconstruction (anticipated in 2027) will allow a shared-use path to pass beneath the new bridge, creating a safer north–south crossing.

Members pressed for clearer direction on priorities and implementation. "Is this a plan or a road map? What is the purpose and who is number one to make sure it happens?" one member asked. Scott said the draft includes priority 1 and 2 routes on the bicycle network and that staff will add an implementation table listing responsible parties. He also said the project team will include a public survey this June asking residents to rank the relative importance of goals and strategies.

Several members urged the committee to name an ongoing staff champion to keep the plan on departmental agendas and to verify that projects include complete‑streets upgrades as they move forward. The chair proposed using the term "active transportation champion" for the role and said a single point of follow‑up tends to make the difference between plans that stall and those that are implemented.

The plan’s authors also highlighted maintenance needs. Scott noted a tentative long‑range maintenance plan for paved and unpaved trails and pointed to areas such as the North Fork Trail where surface quality and drainage were identified as issues. Committee members asked the plan to explicitly address maintenance responsibilities and winter maintenance to increase year‑round access.

Scott said staff will take the committee’s input and incorporate clarifying language, an orientation/purpose section, and an implementation table into the final draft before broader public input in June. The committee did not take formal action on the plan at the meeting; members agreed to provide written comments to be reflected in the minutes and subsequent revisions.