Transportation Plan - Town of Garner

Sidewalk Project Prioritization & Phasing Recommendations
Following project development, sidewalk corridor projects were
prioritized. As can be seen, the proposed sidewalk corridor projects are
extensive – they cover over 41 miles of roadway in Garner on 39 named
roads. In addition, 6.1 miles have been identified for 10 projects in
Garner to fill small gaps in the existing sidewalk network. Even if Garner
plans to expand its budget for pedestrian facilities, it will still take a long
time for all of these projects to be constructed. To help the Town
determine which projects to construct first, an analysis was performed to
prioritize projects and create a recommended phasing schedule of shortterm,
mid‐term, and long‐term projects for construction.
Prioritization and scheduling were based on the following factors:
• Public input: Comments from the Steering Committee and
participants in the Open Houses, survey, and other public forums
• Project characteristics: During the fourth Steering Committee
meeting, committee members were asked to identify their priority
projects regardless of cost. Members then discussed the priority
criteria that contributed to the identification of those projects,
including access to schools, parks and existing sidewalks. Other
priority criteria included access to commercial areas and major
employment centers, as well as safety factors such as whether the
project was located along a corridor with a proclivity to frequent
bicycle and pedestrian crashes. From this discussion, the following
items were identified as important project characteristics to making a
project a priority:
• Accessibility: Proximity to schools, parks/greenways, commercial
areas and major employment centers
• Town Marketability: Project ability to create a walkable downtown
and connect residents or visitors to/from downtown Garner
• Safety: Measured by crash frequency along a project corridor
• Connectivity: Project’s potential to complete a critical connection
from one location to another, measured by the project’s connection
to existing sidewalks
• Constructability and Cost: Ease of constructing the project, including
preliminary design analysis and engineering preparation, right‐of‐way
purchase and actual construction
Project prioritization and scheduling was a layered process which
incorporated all of the above factors in the following steps:
Chapter 4: Recommendations Page | 67
December 10, 2009