Draft 2030 Land Use Plan Available for Public Review

The draft of the Boone 2030 Land Use Plan is available for public review and comment. The plan reflects the work of citizens, stakeholders, and consultants culminating in a 5-day public design workshop (charrette) in October 2008.

The draft has been reviewed by the Plan Advisory Committee and is now ready for public comment prior to being considered for adoption by the Town Council in early spring.

Please click on the link(s) for the document to the right to view the draft chapters electronically (pdf). The table of contents can be downloaded here. A limited number of hard copy drafts are also available for review at the Boone Development Services office.

All comments or questions can be posted on the blog site and/or forwarded to the Boone Development Services Department: ricky.hurley@townofboone.net.

An Alternative for the Boone Parkway

From Parade Magazine on 3.8.09

How We Can Save Our Roads by Earl Swift

Pennsylvania’s Smart Transportation initiative calls on engineers to re-examine all of their assumptions. “The old style was that if we had a road that was congested, we’d project the traffic out 25 years and add lanes,” says Allen D. Biehler, the state’s transportation secretary. “Well, guess what? We don’t have enough money for that anymore.”

When Pennsylvania couldn’t afford a long-planned, $465 million freeway north of Philadelphia, Biehler brainstormed with communities along the 8.4-mile route and found a cheaper alternative: a parkway bordered with trees and bike trails. Work on the $200 million project began in November.

I just can't help but think of the similarities between this project and the planned Boone Parkway. How big does a project have to be before it is no longer practical to build in anyone's reasonable lifetime? The low-build alternative, is just that, and alternative, but it represents a practical improvement that the Boone community could see within a generation.