City finishing greenway plan
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 13, 2014 1:46 PM
There are now plans in place for a new greenways system in Goldsboro.
Matt Hayes of Alta Greenways unveiled finalized plans at last Monday night's Goldsboro City Council meeting.
After a nine-month planning period, which included feedback from the public, the vision for the greenway system is to make every part connect and to improve the quality of life for Goldsboro residents.
Hayes and his team found 11 miles of worn footpaths that did not have sidewalks. Worn footpaths are areas along roads where there is a clearly worn strip of dirt, indicating foot traffic consistently travels through the area, he said.
In the plan, putting sidewalks in areas with high foot traffic that have worn paths is a high priority.
"Clearly they are walking there, but they don't have sidewalks," Hayes said.
Hayes' research also found 38 cases in the past year where bikers or pedestrians were hit by cars while traveling around the city. Adding bike paths and sidewalks would help lower this number, he said.
The plan says the key to implementing these changes more easily lies in developing and adopting a set of street policy and design guidelines, revising sidewalk requirements, require dedication of greenway corridors throughout the city and revising and updating land use and urban design requirements.
To gather public opinion on what citizens want the most from the greenway project, Hayes and his team went tot the local YMCA and gave out surveys, and did the same at local festivals, Center Street Jam concerts throughout the summer and at a Neuse kayaking trip organized by Parks and Recreation.
They found 53 intersection crossing improvements that could be made throughout the city, and are also seeking to tap into the Mountain to Sea trail that runs through North Carolina to bring it through Goldsboro along the Neuse River.
In the eight-part plan released Monday, the main goals were to improve health, mobility, safety, the environment and Goldsboro's economy by promoting greenway usage in the city.
"We talked to a lot of people who travel outside Goldsboro to go to trails," Hayes said. "Some said they go up to an hour away to trails elsewhere. If you can keep those people in Goldsboro, it's better for the economy and improves the quality of life here."
Planning for the future projects involving the greenway system began in February 2014, and public comment for the finalized plans is open until Oct. 31.
Comments can be sent to Jennifer Collins at jcollins@goldsboronc.gov, and the full plans can be found at goldsborogreenway.weebly.com.