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East Central receives APA-WI Chapter Award

East Central receives APA-WI Chapter Award for
Appleton (Fox Cities) TMA and Oshkosh MPO Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan
Planning process that developed a Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Network and Programs

East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (ECWRPC) received an Innovations in Planning Award from the American Planning Association (APA) WI Chapter on October 13th, 2015 for the developed of the Appleton (Fox Cities) Transportation Management Area and Oshkosh Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The Appleton TMA and the Oshkosh MPO Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan was a collaborative effort between multiple jurisdictions and partner organizations to connect bicycle and pedestrian facilities and programs within the Fox Valley.

APA jurors from outside of Wisconsin reviewed the applicants with one juror stating, “The process used to develop this plan brought a diverse and non-traditional group of participants to the table. This served to broaden the planners’ perspectives, but also did a great deal to educate and inform other professionals about the planning process and the importance and impact of similar regional plans.”

A traditional plan would typically focus on recommending new routes within each municipality, however, the plan’s steering committee instead focused on promoting the existing bicycle and pedestrian framework and supplementing the recommendations with additional region wide routes and facilities that provide the crucial city to city and region to region links. The creation of new recommendations that complement existing local level recommendations allows this plan to garner a wide range of support and influence.

Local jurisdictions and partner organizations played a critical role in the creation of the document including map development, facility recommendations, infrastructure analysis and resource development. They now are actively pursuing the implementation of recommendations through various programs at the local level and at ECWRPC.

“The Appleton (Fox Cities) TMA and Oshkosh MPO Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is an excellent example of collaboration efforts that are occurring across the Fox Valley Region that will have a greater collective impact. The goal of these efforts is to make a regional bicycle and pedestrian network that connects all of the communities within the Fox Valley and provides community members opportunities for active transportation,” stated Melissa Kraemer-Badtke, Executive Director at ECWRPC.

The full plan document can be found at the following link: https://www.ecwrpc.org/programs/transportation/bicycle-and-pedestrian-planning/

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