Embedded Files
Definition
Definition
Omaha's Master Plan includes several "Elements". Adopted by City Council in August 2012, the Transportation Element (also known as the "Transportation Master Plan" is intended to guide the selection and design of Omaha's transportation projects.
As the City states on page 17 of the 2018-2023 CIP:
The Transportation Master Plan sets forth the vision and goals for the transportation network in Omaha. The overall aim of the Transportation Plan is to build a community that will provide safe, comfortable, continuous facilities for all modes of transportation and provide options for people of all ages and/or abilities.
Status
Status
With the exception of the Complete Streets section, it is safe to say that the Transportation Element is a failure and has zero impact on Omaha's transportation plan and network.
The first 67 pages read like a college class on urban planning: (1) assess current conditions (2) perform public outreach, (3) Utopian project ideas, and (4) a boilerplate framework for selecting projects. Most of this could apply to any City and show no connection or engagement with Omaha leaders or City Departments.
Next come 20 pages of recommendations. Apart from the Complete Streets effort, the recommendations have been ignored. First recommended step: form a team to develop metrics for ranking potential projects. Mode Shift was part of this effort, which floundered after a few meetings. A request for a status update remains unanswered.
The Transportation Element is a collection of mostly ignored recommendation. Not a plan. Not a vision.
So if the "Transportation Master Plan sets forth the vision and goals for the transportation network in Omaha" then there is no vision for the transportation network in Omaha.
Action
Action
After 6 years of neglect, the Transportation Element (TE) could be salvaged by following some of its recommendations. Mode Shift would pick these simple steps:
- The City should stop pretending that the Transportation Element is a "vision" that "guides" decision making, and either follow its recommendations, starting with the "Transportation Element Evaluation" on page 92, which is a year overdue and will confirm the TE's poor status.
- The City should start applying metrics to CIP projects (TE recommendation, page 90, "Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Planning"). The Complete Street "measures of performance" for a start, along with simple metrics that can be refined over time. That should have happened 6 years ago when the City Council adopted the Transportation Element, but it didn't. So the best we can do is to start now.
- The City should publish maps of its bicycle and pedestrian plan (TE recommendation, page 90 "Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans"). The MAPA effort is good, but it is at a high level. Without such a plan, the Complete Streets will flounder because any street could be given motorist priority.
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