HomeMy WebLinkAboutSection 8 Transportation 12.2019 35
Transportation
Vision:
The City of Iowa City is committed to providing a transportation system that offers safe and efficient
modes of travel for all users while balancing the need to protect our social and natural environment.
Transportation Goals and Strategies:
Accommodate all modes of transportation on the street system.
▪ Design arterial streets as “complete streets” where all modes of transportation are consid-
ered, including private motorized vehicles, transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists as required by
the City’s adopted Complete Streets Policy.
▪ Require sidewalks on both sides of city streets.
▪ Continue the existing sidewalk infill program to close gaps in the sidewalk network.
▪ Construct capacity improvements where appropriate for the street system.
▪ Perform preventative maintenance to ensure overall system preservation.
Encourage walking and bicycling.
▪ Encourage pedestrian-oriented development and attractive and functional streetscapes that
make it safe, convenient, and comfortable to walk.
▪ Work with the Iowa City Community School District to provide safe routes to schools.
▪ Provide crosswalks and pedestrian signals where appropriate.
▪ Provide on-street bicycle accommodations where appropriate–focusing on areas identified in
the adopted Metropolitan Bicycle Master Plan.
▪ Provide separated trails where appropriate–focusing on areas identified in the adopted Met-
ropolitan Bicycle Master Plan.
▪ Provide other bicycle infrastructure projects where appropriate–focusing on areas identified
in the adopted Metropolitan Bicycle Master Plan.
Photo courtesy of the Press Citizen: photo by Brad Parsons.
The Burlington Street Bridge is a vital artery in Iowa
City’s transportation system and provides the most
direct connection between east and west Iowa City.
But for cyclists it is a daunting challenge. Bike advo-
cates and transportation planners are working on a
way to make this corridor a safe and appealing part
of the bicycle network.
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Promote use of public transit.
▪ Continue to monitor transit on-time performance.
▪ Ensure adequate levels of transit service during peak travel periods.
▪ Continue to maintain and upgrade transit capital equipment as necessary.
▪ Explore innovative ideas to increase transit ridership – like implementing the ‘Bus On The Go’ in-
formation system.
▪ Continue and augment marketing campaigns to encourage bus ridership.
▪ Continue to support efforts to secure Amtrak rail service in the central Iowa corridor.
▪ Implement and promote a car-sharing program.
▪ Explore opportunities to develop a local light rail system along the CRANDIC rail line.
Maximize the safety and efficiency of the transportation network.
▪ Continue to evaluate traffic signals on a five-year cycle.
▪ Ensure that all street signs meet retro-reflective requirements for nighttime visibility.
▪ Continue to coordinate transit routes and programs with Coralville Transit and the University of
Iowa Cambus system.
▪ Continue to identify high collision locations and employ strategies to reduce the occurrence and
severity of those collisions.
▪ Collaborate with neighboring communities on transportation projects with regional benefits.
▪ Implement techniques outlined in the City’s adopted traffic calming program where appropriate.
Maximize mobility for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
▪ Ensure that sidewalks, trails, curb ramps, traffic control devices, street markings, and parking facil-
ities accommodate the elderly and persons with disabilities.
▪ Continue provision of complimentary paratransit service .
▪ Continue to provide lift equipment for all public transit vehicles .
▪ Use appropriate font and text size on street signage to ensure maximum readability.
The transit systems of Iowa City, Coralville,
and the University of Iowa Cambus now
have a coordinated, GPS-based information
system called Bus on the Go (or BONGO for
short). Bongo provides real -time passenger
information that allows riders to find cur-
rent bus locations as well as predictions for
upcoming bus arrivals via a smart phone,
text message, web, or telephone.
The system is designed to make transit use
more efficient and convenient—no more
standing out in the cold waiting for a bus
that is running behind schedule.
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Encourage economic vitality through transportation innovation and investment.
▪ Encourage capital transportation investment that promotes access to major employment
centers.
▪ Construct municipal parking structures in convenient locations to promote and preserve
the pedestrian-oriented character of central city commercial areas, including Downtown,
Northside Marketplace, and Riverfront Crossings.
▪ Design municipal parking structures in a manner that will not interrupt the pedestrian en-
vironment, i.e. by constructing residential or storefront liner buildings with ancillary uses
such as day-care centers and workforce housing.
▪ Preserve Downtown on-street parking for short-term users by encouraging the use of
structured parking facilities for long-term parking.
Completed in 2005, the Court Street Transportation
Center is a 600-space parking garage and Iowa
City’s first formal park-and-ride facility for commut-
ers. The building includes a new inter-city bus ter-
minal and route stops for Iowa City Transit and the
University of Iowa CAMBUS. Bicycle lockers and
covered bike parking are also provided. The facility
is designed with active street level uses—
commercial liner buildings include a childcare cen-
ter and restaurant. In 2010, lighting in the facility
was updated with LEDs (light-emitting diodes).
LEDs have a lifespan that is three times that of con-
ventional lighting and with reduced energy costs,
the lights will pay for themselves.