There are some changes coming to the proposed bicycle lanes and shared use paths projects in Navasota, following tons of citizen feedback at a public hearing last week, and city council this week.
Any approval of applying for Transportation Alternative Grants for funding this were tabled at Monday’s council meeting. Rayna Willenbrink with the city talked about what changes they made to a couple portions of the project, most notably along Washington Avenue.
“We eliminated the originally proposed striped bicycle lanes, just because that was a big safety concern, having bicycle lanes sharing road with the cars,” said Willenbrink.
“Washington Avenue, Segment B, this one had substantial changes based on the feedback we received. So, the elimination of the proposed raised median, extending down the west side of Washington Avenue, elimination of bicycle lanes…and, for this one, keeping the six foot sidewalks on both sides of the road from 8th Street to 3rd Street, therefore not having to switch to parallel parking, and not having to eliminate any parking spaces,” said Willenbrink.
As mentioned before, none of the projects are even close to being set, as these are discussions just for approving the grant application in potentially funding these.
She says with help of Transportation Development Credits received in recent months, these projects could be of little cost to the city. But, the public feedback is important in that.
“[The credits] are for, since Navasota is in an economically disadvantaged county, and has a population under 50,000, we may apply to have our local cash match fully covered by the credits. So, a big part of that is having community support, and having letters of support for these projects when we apply,” Willenbrink noted.
The city has announced another public meeting will be held to discuss the plans, which is scheduled for June 3rd at 5:30 pm, and will again be held at City council chambers, and broadcasted via YouTube and Zoom.