Fayetteville is seeking feedback from residents to update its comprehensive pedestrian plan, which will be used to guide city officials and staff to develop new, pedestrian-friendly sidewalk, trail and intersection projects.
The plan is an update to the 2018 pedestrian plan. The revamp comes as the city has 27 current and upcoming sidewalk projects planned, including those from the 2022 bond package approved by Fayetteville voters. A large chunk of the package — about $8 million — will used for 15.3 miles of city sidewalks.
Virginia Small, Fayetteville’s transportation planner, discussed the plan in an informational video produced by the city’s government.
“The pedestrian plan for the city of Fayetteville is to help identify areas around the city that need improvements in sidewalk, crosswalk or intersections,” Small said. “And the main focus is to make sure that these areas are identified for the safety of our community that you can use as a sidewalk network.”
The city is asking residents to fill out the pedestrian plan survey until the end of the day on Saturday, Aug. 31. The survey includes several questions relating to residents’ experiences of Fayetteville’s pedestrian infrastructure and desires for future improvements.
Residents can also give their input by:
- Visiting the interactive map on the city’s website. The map allows you to drop “pins” in specific areas where you would like to see improvements and leave a comment about it.
- Attending an information session from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 28) at the FAST Transit Center, 505 Franklin St. The open house will allow attendees to talk with city staff, ask questions about the plan and discuss improvements they would like to see.
“This information that residents give us in our surveys and our interactive map will help us rank and prioritize our area of needs,” Small said. “We will make sure that the residents continue to be informed of the plan.”
The plan update also comes as the city is embarking on a number of projects to enhance green spaces and city parks, but has faced some setbacks such as a lack of funding and issues with unreliable contractors. For instance, the city had to temporarily delay the $1.4 million Rosehill Road sidewalk project last fall after the contractor failed to complete work on it.
Fayetteville has also been seeking state and grant funding opportunities to complete its final batch of parks and recreation projects included in the 2016 bond referendum, specifically the multi-million dollar Cape Fear River Park and the McArthur Sports Complex.
Residents who fill out the pedestrian plan survey are eligible to receive “buy one, get one” baseball tickets to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers game on Sept. 2. Survey-takers will be followed up with by email after inputting their email address at the bottom of the survey. Residents who would like to receive updates on the plan via email can add their name to the list here.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.