Fw: MTP Update -- Advisory Group Homework from 9/11 meeting
Cynthia Palmer
To: Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC) Members
From: Pamela Van Hine, PAC Recording Secretary/PAC Representative on the MTP Update Advisory Group
Date: September 25, 2025
RE: Heads Up - Advisory Group Homework due October 13
I wanted to share with you some details from the recent (9/11) Advisory Group Meeting and alert you to upcoming homework for the transportation update. Please review the Advisory Group items from the September 11 meeting before the joint BAC-PAC meeting on October 8 - and ponder homework answers for discussion.
Staff presentations during the July 16 Advisory Group meeting were on Current Future Conditions and Scenario Planning, but that was NOT the focus of the September 11 meeting. Instead staff introduced the Advisory Group to multimodal priority networks, which will guide future transportation corridor development in the County.
In the existing Master Transportation Plan, each transportation element (i.e. bicycle element, pedestrian element) was developed separately from the rest of the plan.These separate elements often recommend future routes that are in conflict with routes in other elements, as the transportation right of way (ROW) is often not sufficient to provide both great bike access and transit access.
The multimodal priority network approach allows staff to look at the County transportation system holistically, with staff prioritizing one mode over another (i.e. transit over bikes, or vice versa) if the ROW is insufficient to provide both.
Great news for the PAC - the County will always prioritize pedestrian routes over any other mode:
When the County begins the evaluation of a transportation corridor, they will first determine if existing pedestrian spaces are sufficient to keep us safe and comfortable. If the pedestrian route needs more space, staff will give that to the project before considering what other modes can be safely added.
Determining what is sufficient pedestrian space will be a huge policy issue that the PAC needs to consider when the Advisory Group begins work on policies (not quite yet). I suspect that the answer will not be simple - not one size fits all - but rather dependent upon the corridor route and predicted pedestrian traffic on it. Stay tuned.
If there is insufficient ROW, staff will determine if a specific corridor should be transit priority or bike priority. We need to monitor transit priority routes (with no bike priority), as cyclists can then legally use the sidewalks.
The maps: Staff drafted 3 County transportation maps: Bike priority routes, transit priority routes, and one that shows both. Part of the background work that staff did for the maps was to go through the current elements (and other resources) to identify which routes might not support both transit and bike priority routes (one example is Glebe Rd.) Staff have reconciled conflicting modes by setting mode priorities on the corridor routes on the maps. Staff then assigned the routes a mode priority based upon their available information. The draft maps are on the last 3 slides of the meeting slide deck.
The Advisory Group member organizations have 2 homework assignments:
First Advisory Group Homework - due October 13: Identify gaps in the corridor routes on the maps and give suggestions on how to solve them. In preparation, I encourage you to review the 9/11 Advisory Group Recording, slide deck, and notes. Kristin’s opening remarks are clear on the recording, but the voices of other speakers were often not captured on the recording.
Arlington’s Transportation Future Advisory Group
We have convened an Advisory Group to support the planning process. The Advisory Group will meet at key mileston...
Second Advisory Group Homework - also due October 13: Opportunities and Challenges for Implementing the Approved Goals:
The second homework assignment is to give suggestions on up to three opportunities to reach each goal and three challenges to achieving the goal . I have listed a couple examples. See Board approved goals here. The approved Goals are listed below:
What's Next
Share your input on Arlington's Transportation Future! Fill out a questionnaire and comment on an interactive map.
Equitable and Inclusive: Create a welcoming, affordable, and accessible transportation system for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, while working to eliminate historical disparities in transportation policy and investment.
Opportunities: Strong County DEI policies and programs.
Challenges: Insufficient funds to fix all of the infrastructure.
Livable: Create a transportation system that provides enjoyable spaces and improves quality of life, affordability, economic vitality, physical and mental wellbeing, access to nature, and sense of community.
Opportunities:
Challenges:
Reliable: Provide an interconnected transportation network that is dependable, convenient, and well-maintained, enabling all people and goods to seamlessly reach their destinations in the County and region.
Opportunities:
Challenges:
Safe: Prioritize a safe and comfortable travel experience for all people and eliminate transportation-related deaths and serious injuries.
Opportunities: Vision Zero program.
Challenges:
Sustainable: Develop a transportation system that moves more people with less traffic; supports a cleaner and greener environment; and advances climate protection, resilience, and adaptation.
Opportunities:
Challenges:
Transparent and Accountable: Clearly prioritize and communicate competing demands within the transportation network and responsibly manage public resources to deliver and maintain an exceptional transportation system.
Opportunities:
Challenges:
Please be prepared to discuss both homework assignments at the October 8 meeting. Please contact me if you have any questions,
THANKS and good thoughts
pam
This memo is in this GoogleDocs doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ssSJCwayxj_lMtFydTKpKnWZhWb8RFnIXvvuYxuAk4E/edit?usp=sharing
If you need it in a different format, please let me know.