MONTICELLO – Representatives from the Metropolitan Urban Design (MUD) Workshop presented a bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure master plan to the Legislature on Thursday, November 5.

County Planning Commissioner Heather Brown said the plan was partially funded by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through the Climate Smart Communities Program.

“I’m sure that you’ve seen that our pedestrian population has significantly increased,” said Brown. “Unfortunately with that we’ve seen an increase in pedestrian accidents with vehicles.”

Brown said the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure master plan was a way to connect communities and make safer walking and biking routes to Move Sullivan bus stops, grocery stores, and places of employment.

“We are a community-centered design and planning practice dedicated to neighborhood and public space revitalization,” said MUD Principal Shachi Pandey, who added that her team has spent the past 18 months working with county staff, municipalities, stakeholders, and residents, to develop the master plan.

Pandey made it clear that because of Sullivan County’s size and diversity, the plan was not a one-size-fits-all approach; instead, the plan represents a flexible toolkit that can be adapted to the unique needs, priorities, and resources of a municipality.

Pandey said a 20-person advisory committee met at key milestones to guide the process. Pandey ‘s team also met with stakeholders, police departments, municipal leaders, and business owners, to understand their specific needs.

“Public input played a very critical role in shaping this plan,” she said.

She said they used community feedback from more than 600 survey responses, coupled by a comprehensive existing conditions analysis. “We examined factors such as pedestrian and bicycle crash locations, infrastructure gaps, roadway characteristics, transit access, and demographic trends,” explained Pandey.

The results

MUD Workshop’s analysis revealed that concentrations of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure exist primarily within village centers. It also identified connectivity gaps between destinations and residential areas, which limit opportunities to walk or bike safely.

“While current walking and bicycling rates are low,” said Pandey, “77% of survey respondents said they would like to bike or walk if it were made safer and convenient.”

She said the survey helped them understand that the sweet spot for the longest distance was five miles for bicycling, and three miles for walking.

Pandey’s research highlighted the unequal distribution of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure across the county. “Some communities have lower rates of vehicle ownership and therefore rely more heavily on walking and bicycling and transit, or shared transportation options.”

Pandey’s analysis concluded that roads are unsafe for walking or biking over long distances, missing connections exist within the network of public transportation, and gaps in regional bike networks limit the potential of recreational and everyday biking. She said that infrastructure is fragmented and underfunded, a feature typical of rural municipalities in New York State.

A vision of connectivity

Pandey said the vision for this effort was that, “Sullivan County will foster the development of a bike and pedestrian network to connect residents, workers, and visitors to local and regional destinations. Local bike and pedestrian networks centered around the county’s population centers will connect main streets and Move Sullivan bus stops to the surrounding areas, and link village and town centers on a multi-modal regional network. This will reduce overall vehicle miles traveled, lower carbon emissions, and foster healthier, more resilient communities.”

The vision statement, Pandey explained, is supported by five key goals: build a connected network at the county-wide and municipal scale, create safe and comfortable routes, advance climate resiliency and sustainability, support long-term maintenance and stewardship, and educate and generate awareness around active transportation.