Nationally renowned walkability expert to present planning solutions for White Salmon tonight

The focus of White Salmon’s Transportation Plan is to identify key transportation projects that will improve the access and walkability through town for residents and visitors alike. It is intended to complement the newly adopted 2021 Comprehensive Plan. This work will focus on the area within existing city limits as well as the outlying Urban Exempt Area, the press release said.

Primary goals of the plan are to:

• inventory and classify the existing street system;
• create a locally appropriate hierarchy of street standards for use when permitting new developments;
• identify larger potential for desired street connections;
• incorporate identified existing and desired bike and pedestrian routes such as safe routes to schools, Loop Road route, and possible connections from Mamie Gaddis Park to Spoke Bike Park;
• develop implementation policies for actionable street standards, particularly where off-site substandard conditions exist;
• identify funding mechanisms and strategies, including securing and planning for direct public investment in street infrastructure and planning for reasonable, predictable, and consistent conditions for private developers.

“Throughout our community outreach during the Comprehensive Plan update, we continued to hear from residents about their desire to improve White Salmon’s walkability and maintain a vibrant downtown core. White Salmon is so fortunate to be able to work with Jeff Speck and benefit from his insight on how we can achieve those goals,” said Mayor Marla Keethler.

Speck will first tour White Salmon with city officials and meet with key stakeholders. He will then present his findings and suggestions to the public via a virtual event on Thursday evening, January 20 at 6pm. The event will also include Q&A with attendees and will be live-streamed via facebook.com/MayorMarla.

About Jeff Speck

Speck leads the design firm Speck and Associates and is the author of Walkable City and its sequel Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places. His TED Talk on The Walkable City (https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_speck_the_walkable_city?language=en) has been viewed by millions, and a preview of his documentary project Walkable USA can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/579861293.

About Nelson\Nygaard

The transportation planning and engineering firm Nelson\Nygaard is an industry leader in innovative transportation solutions and setting national standards in complete streets, public transit, parking policy and transportation demand management programs.