Draft Final Version 

The public comment period has closed for the Final Version of the Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan. Public comments that were received will be summarized and presented to City Council on April 16^th. Available for review is the Final Wayfinding Guidelines. If there are any comments regarding the Wayfinding Guidelines, please email them to mark.gansen@cityofames.org.

Preliminary Network Recommendations

The project team created recommendations for paths, sidewalks, bikeways, and street crossings. These recommendations were presented via an online map that allowed people to review the proposals, comment, and make additional suggestions. The online map was open for comments in May, 2023. Click here to view the map of preliminary recommendations alongside public input.

Project Background

The City of Ames is working hard on Walk Bike Roll Ames—a project to develop a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan! This plan will help the City become a place where walking, biking, and rolling is safer, more comfortable, and easier for everyone in Ames, regardless of their age or ability.

There are two parts to this project. The first is a far-reaching plan that will identify policies, programs, and projects that will improve walking and biking in Ames, with short-range and long-term recommendations. The second piece will focus on wayfinding, which is a system of signs that helps people get to destinations. This will include designing wayfinding signs and creating a wayfinding network that helps people get to where they need to go by foot or bike in Ames.

Vision & Goals

The following vision statement and goals have been developed to guide the Walk Bike Roll Ames process and plan development.

Vision: Ames is a place where walking, biking, and rolling are safe, enjoyable, convenient, and available to everyone.

Goals:

• Safe and Comfortable. Plan, design, and operate streets, sidewalks, bikeways, crossings, and paths to prioritize safety with the ultimate goal of eliminating fatalities.
• Connected and Easy. Create connections throughout Ames and to surrounding areas that are easy and intuitive to use, encouraging and enabling more people to walk, bike, and roll.
• Healthy and Sustainable. Get more people walking, biking, rolling, and using future zero-carbon forms of personal mobility to improve health and to provide easy alternatives to driving.
• Equitable and Accessible. Create places where everybody can walk, bike, or roll regardless of age, ability, identity, race, or economic status. Ensure that investments are made equitably and are complemented by programs that encourage and empower everyone to choose active transportation.

Timeline

We started Walk Bike Roll Ames over the summer of 2022 and plan to wrap up the plan in spring of 2024. Over that time, we'll do vision and goal setting (fall 2022), review existing conditions (early winter 2022), develop a draft bike and pedestrian network (spring 2023), create an implementation strategy (spring/summer 2023), and adopt the plan (
Spring 2024). We will be concurrently working on creating wayfinding signs and routes, finalizing the sign plans in fall 2023.

Project Update: On Wednesday, November 15th an Open House was held for the plan where we had a great turnout. The feedback we received is being used to help assemble the draft final plan document. Once the document is finished it will be posted online for a public feedback period.

Project Update: on Friday, March 15th a Final Draft was posted with a general comment box for residents to provide input on the final draft. (Comments will close April 5th) Comments will be incorporated into the presentation to City Council on April 15.

We need you to make this plan better!

Throughout this project, we will be asking Ames residents (you!) about what is good about walking, biking, and rolling in Ames, what could be improved, and what your priorities are. We'll also be asking about where you would like wayfinding signs around town to make sure you get where you're going. This outreach will be happening throughout the project, both in-person and virtually.

There are a few ways to stay up-to-date on our engagement efforts:

• Project Newsletter. Sign up for our email newsletter and be the first to know about any updates or engagement opportunities for the Ames Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Click the Walk Bike Roll Ames e-notification under the new category.
• Get Social With Us. Follow @AmesPublicWorks or @CityofAmes- City Government on Facebook and @CityofAmes on Twitter for updates. We'll be posting updates and engagement information as it happens.
• Project Website. We'll be updating this website as the project progresses. Bookmark this page and check back often.

Have any questions or need more information? Contact the City of Ames project team at WalkBikeRoll@cityofames.org

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Word Viewer Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer