Building

the Network FUNDING THE ACTION PLAN

The Plan’s recommendations amount to nearly $520M of investments in active transportation infrastructure ($274M for the Action Plan Network on St. Louis County roads, and $245 for Gateway Bike Plan Network Updates on state and local roads). Implementing the recommendations proposed in the Action Plan will require a combination of local revenue, costsharing with community partners, external grants, and other creative funding sources. Even modest targets for Action Plan and Complete Streets investments add strain to the growing budget challenges shown in Figure 1.

Project Programming

Given the current state of the County’s transportation system and its limited ability to fully fund even basic maintenance needs, the Department of Transportation must take an opportunistic approach to pedestrian and bicycle improvements. This includes leveraging limited resources to secure external grants and funding sources, partnering with local agencies and institutions to pursue projects that achieve mutually beneficial goals and objectives, and identifying opportunities to align recommended projects in the Action Plan with scheduled roadway improvements. This opportunity-based strategy highlights the importance of regular review of potential projects as part of the programming process. Roadway resurfacing projects comprise a significant portion of the Department of Transportations annual budget. Many of these projects provide opportunities to incorporate recommendations for on-street bikeway facility installation through re-striping modifications like lane narrowing or road diets. They may also present the opportunity to incorporate adjacent sidewalks or ADA improvements and achieve economies of scale.

As the Department of Transportation reviews potential projects for inclusion in its annual and five-year capital improvements plans, the recommendations in the Action Plan and the impact ratings described in the previous section can serve as a valuable guide for incorporating Complete Streets design elements into future transportation projects.

Measuring Success

Performance measures track plan implementation over time. County staff and other stakeholders can reference these performance measures to routinely track progress and check that the plan is achieving its desired goals and advancing towards its overarching vision. While there are many different ways to measure plan success, it is important to acknowledge the amount of time and effort necessary to compile, review, and analyze associated data. As such, the performance measures developed for the Action Plan are simple metrics that serve as the baseline for evaluating performance. These measures can be expanded upon or supplemented with additional measures as necessary to better examine key issues or themes.

The following performance measures are among those identified in the plan to be reviewed on an annual basis and communicated in the annual Action Plan report to the public:

• Miles of total pedestrian and bicycle facilities

• Miles of total pedestrian and bicycle facilities that are considered low stress / part of an all ages and abilities network

• Miles of pedestrian and bicycle facilities implemented in high need areas

• Number of fatal and severe injury-causing pedestrian - and bicycle-related crashes

• Walking and bicycling mode share

• Miles and percent of sidewalks repaired per year