Northfield transportation plan begins to take shape
December 12th, 2007,The City of Northfield Transportation Plan has begun to take shape, and interested citizens can take a look at the plan web site. I’ve seen a draft of the Transportation Plan goals and objectives (not yet posted online) and they look promising in their commitment to a sustainable, multi-modal transportation system. One item I was encouraged to see: “Objective 4.3 - Establish an area transportation advisory committee with the state, counties, and adjacent municipalities and townships to coordinate and strategize regional transportation planning initiatives (TH 19 between Northfield and I-35, Cannon River Crossing/CSAH 1 Preservation, NW Corridor).”
Does anyone know, are there models out there for this kind of regional advisory committee, ones that Northfield might emulate?
December 12th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
As it happens there are states that allow local governmental units to form regional transportation districts (modeled on watershed districts). Indeed, the three planning chairs (Bridgewater, Dundas and Northfield) are already talking about how to make such a thing happen in our area without the blessing of the State. At the same time I have talked with Ray Cox a little about how to get this sort of structure sanctioned by Minnesota (also analogously to the watershed districts) and he is supportive of such efforts. I hope that The fundamental advantage a sanctioned organization has is the ability to levy fees and taxes to support the targeted asset (whether preserving water quality or transportation quality).
In the meantime, Dundas and Bridgewater are also in the process of revising their transportation plans to incorporate the findings of the corridor study. Multimodal plans are well understood by the Dundas city staff and the Dundas planning commissioners, and we expect to use that mutual understanding to our advantage.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Very intriguing, Bruce! Please keep us informed.
David Bly may be of assistance as well.