From the San Juan Islands Scenic Update
Planner Linda Kuller has been hired to lead the update of the Transportation Element of the San Juan County Comprehensive Plan and will be presenting her progress to the San Juan County Planning Commission on February 1st starting at 9am in the Council Chambers.The Transportation Element to the Comp Plan can be found at https://sanjuanco.com/CDP/docs/
The session will be streamed live and can be accessed through the County Council website (watch for details at: https://sanjuanco.com/). The work addresses the County’s existing transportation system and future planning challenges.
It will result in updated goals and policies that will be used to guide the development of transportation facilities and services in the County.
We currently has a County Mobility Manager, Christopher Aiken. It was my understanding that these issues were his to coordinate. I am unclear why we need another Transportation expert to guide our County. How do these jobs differ and how do they collaborate?
Two things:
The simple one: the link to the update does not work.
The harder one:
I hope that the Planning Commission ensures that the transportation update includes a realistic look at the changes that will be needed in transportation infrastructure as we into a climate-changed future. I just returned from helping after Hurricane Sandy and can attest that that future is arriving sooner than we thought. We need to be better prepared than the east coast was and is.
Today I walked the beach road near home. The waves have been undermining the edge of the road. For the first time we’ve had to pull our dingy from the beach – because there is none at high tide any more. Within the timeframe of this update this road, others like it and other low lying transportation improvements may no longer be viable.
The sooner we plan and prepare, the less the cost and the less pain.
The link has been fixed to connect to the Transportation Element draft and it now works.
As Liz Illg, Coordinator for the County Scenic Byways Project notes, “The County Transportation Element is a huge deal – it really sets policy and direction for County departments. If we want separate trails, or subsidized transit, more access to the water, or even bicycle training for school kids, this is the time to get it into the plan. BTW, it’s in the TE that the County proclaims itself to be a “Nuclear-free Zone”!”
Also, take a look at our 13 Predictions for 2013 — Crescent Beach Road washing out is one of them — was that the road you were walking on Barbara?
Linda is a planner at SJC, she just happens to have been assigned the TE update as her first task. I am not working in a planning-specific capacity at SJC; my position relates to human-services/special-needs transportation provision. I am however coordinated with Linda’s work and the TE update as far as supporting comprehensive public/community transportation issues within the plan itself. The TE update is a big opportunity to shape the way SJC evaluates and prioritizes transportation investments, I encourage everyone to get inmvolved this spring in helping to craft our plan to move forward.
Christopher Aiken, Mobility Manager, San Juan County