| Cache
planners hear how Virginia handled highway reconstruction
By Miriah Griffith
CACHE COUNTY -- The Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization
heard from a guest speaker from Charlottesville, Va.,
at its monthly meeting Monday night.
Traffic Engineer Lee Ward presented a PowerPoint lecture
on the struggles and solutions he faced when designing
U.S. Highway 29. He was invited to speak to the council
because the challenges of U.S. 29 are similar to those
now faced with the construction on U.S. 91 in Cache
County.
"I think it's useful for us to see that other places
have faced challenges," said Transportation Planner
Jeff Gilbert. "We're not alone."
Ward, who has a master's degree in civil engineering,
focused a large part of his presentation on quality
of life.
He said it's important for the council and planning
engineers to build around the character of the community,
including cemeteries, biking/walking paths, facilities
and geologic resources.
Ward also said that focusing on community needs is
a large part of transportation planning. People traveling
through the area on the highway aren't the major contributors
to traffic congestion.
"We found (in the research in Virginia) that
regional through trips are only 12 percent . . . and
we're agonizing over it! We're missing the bigger picture."
Ward encouraged council members to make sure any new
street development is garnished with trees, flowers
and shrubbery. It will improve the community feel and
overall quality of life of the citizens, he said.
Designs that included these elements were very well
accepted by those communities Ward presented to.
"They basically said, 'If we could make our community
look like that . . . that would be great,'" he
said.
Executive Director Jim Gass voiced concern about resistance
from the Utah Highway Department.
"Normally, the State Highway Department's goal is
to move the traffic through," Gass said. "Not build
atmosphere."
He also said he worried that roads would not have
the same capacity as they did before if Ward's designs
were followed.
The council did not take any formal action at the
meeting.
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