Year 2025 Transportation Master Plan Update - City of Oviedo

5.8 Policies to Support Bicycling and Walking
In order for bicycle and pedestrian facilities to become a given part of the transportation
system, several things must occur. First such facilities must be required as part of the
initial planning, design and construction of all roadway facilities and developments.
Second a concerted effort must be made to retrofit the existing system to incorporate
these facilities into the current network. Finally, development must occur in a manner
that supports the use of alternative modes such as walking and bicycling.
To these ends the City needs to adopt policies and programs that provide for building
“complete” streets and that support and provide incentives for building compact, mixed
use developments. Streets must consider the needs of all the potential users, not just
the automobile. In addition to providing route choice for the traveling public, we must
also provide for mode choice. Lack of bicycle and pedestrian facilities creates a nearly
impassable barrier for use of these modes to all but the most experienced, most
desperate, or most foolhardy users. Successful, sustainable communities consider all
users, not just the majority. Additionally, livable, walkable, sustainable communities
employ development patterns, including mixed land uses and traditional street patterns
that rely less on the automobile for transportation and more on transit, pedestrians, and
bicycles.
In order for bicycling and pedestrian facilities to be incorporated into the fabric of our
community at all levels, local government comprehensive plans and land development
regulations need to recognize their importance and require them as part of all projects.
The following general comprehensive plan type policies are recommended for adoption
by the City.
Policy 1: All major City (and County) roadways (minor or residential collectors
and above) shall include sidewalks and signed and marked bicycle lanes in the
urban and transitioning area, and paved shoulders wide enough to safely
accommodate bicyclists in rural areas. The only allowable exceptions are when
one or more of the following conditions are met:
i. Bicyclists and pedestrians are prohibited by law from using the roadway. In
this instance, a greater effort may be necessary to accommodate bicyclists
and pedestrians elsewhere within the right of way or within the same
transportation corridor.
ii.
iii.
The cost of establishing bikeways or walkways would be excessively
disproportionate to the need or probable use. Excessively disproportionate
is defined as exceeding twenty percent of the cost of the larger
transportation project.
Where scarcity of population or other factors indicate an absence of need.
For example, the Portland Pedestrian Guide requires "all construction of
new public streets" to include sidewalk improvements on both sides, unless
the street is a cul-de-sac with four or fewer dwellings or the street has
severe topographic or natural resource constraints.
City of Oviedo 5-20
Year 2025 Transportation Master Plan Update