The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is developing the state's first active transportation plan. This policy toolkit can be used internally and by Oklahoma counties and towns as engineers and designers look to develop more people-friendly infrastructure.
According to the website for the transportation plan, the plan will address all forms of transportation including biking, walking, wheelchairs, electric scooters, and other wheeled vehicles.
Shelby Templin, an ODOT certified planner who is heading up the plan’s development said the end result will be more of a policy guide than a rule book.
“We’re hoping this will guide our engineers and designers, in-house, as well as provide a starting-off point for smaller communities that may not have the resources,” she said. “It also will give the multi-modal group more of a leg to stand on for project development.”
The Active Transportation Plan is expected to be completed this summer and opened to a 30-day public comment period. In the fall, ODOT expects to submit the plan to the Oklahoma Transportation Commission for approval.
A rise in pedestrian deaths across the country is a growing reason the agency is developing the plan, Templin pointed out. “We basically create intersections or hot spots where, theoretically, we’d be having an issue with crashes or a high number of pedestrians,” she explained.
ODOT is researching and reviewing best practices from other states that already have Active Transportation Plans.
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Source: AASHTO
