Taking
things a wee bit further, I went to the Comprehensive Plan for
information on sidewalks. (Keep in mind that the Comprehensive is the
legal basis for the Zoning Ordinance. By that I mean the actual written plan, not the Comprehensive Plan Map which is nice to look at but is only one tiny piece of the actual Comprehensive Plan. Any time you hear Comprehensive Plan Map mentioned, it should be being used to help display what the actual text is conveying. The Comprehensive Plan Map, as a stand alone document, is pretty near useless and should not be used for decisions without the contents of the written plan itself being discussed.)
Chapter
6: Community Facilities and Services:
(page
62) Future extension of the Huckleberry
Trail is planned as part of the N. Franklin Street-Peppers Ferry Road
connector route (a Virginia Department of Transportation thoroughfare
project), which is discussed in the Transportation Chapter. This
route will feature a bicycle lane and sidewalks to be utilized as an
extension of the trail. The longterm plans for the trail include
connecting to downtown Christiansburg (including access to the
Christiansburg Recreation Center, Christiansburg High School, and the
planned aquatic center) and to the 90-acre Montgomery County Park on
County Drive.
The
Town also constructed the College Street Downtown Trail in 2002. The
Town of Christiansburg maintains its sidewalk system, which is a
continuing function. The Town sidewalk system supplements the Town
trails. While the Town’s trails are primarily used for recreational
purposes, sidewalk pedestrian traffic is heavy, particularly in the
downtown area.
Chapter
7: Transportation:
(page
77) Virginia Route 114/Peppers Ferry
Road Project Scheduled to begin in 2007, the
Virginia Route 114/Peppers Ferry Road project will four-lane the
entire portion in Town and outside the corporate limits to Dominion
Drive as well as provide sidewalks, landscaped medians, left and
right turn lanes, two storm water management facilities, crosswalks,
and roadside landscaping.
(page
77) N. Franklin Street/ Peppers Ferry Road
Western Connector Route Project
The
Christiansburg Town Council adopted a resolution requesting the
Virginia Department of Transportation to include a N. Franklin
Street/Peppers Ferry Road NW western connector road in its Six-Year
Plan. Though not funded at this time, the connector is a priority
locally and will assist in the alleviation of traffic congestion on
both heavily traveled commercial corridors. The four-lane new
alignment connector would provide bicycle lanes and sidewalks.
Preliminary engineering for the project has previously been
conducted.
(page
78) Radford Street Improvements
The
Town has indicated that improvements to Radford Street are a
long-term objective including widening and the addition of bicycle
lanes and sidewalks.
(page
80) part of Pedestrian and Bicycle Trails section:
Future
extension of the Huckleberry Trail is planned as part of the N.
Franklin Street-Peppers Ferry Road connector route, which is
discussed in this chapter. This route will feature a bicycle lane and
sidewalks to be utilized as an extension of the trail. The longterm
plans for the trail include connecting to downtown Christiansburg
(including access to the Christiansburg Recreation Center,
Christiansburg High School, and the planned aquatic center) and to
the 90-acre Montgomery County Park on County Road. The Downtown Trail
between College Street and Depot Street opened in 2002.
The
Town of Christiansburg maintains its sidewalk system, which covers a
good deal of the Town’s primary street frontage, particularly in
the commercial districts. The Town sidewalk system supplements the
Town trails. While the Town’s trails are primarily used for
recreational purposes, sidewalk pedestrian traffic is heavy,
particularly in the downtown area.
Chapter
11: Goals Strategies and Objectives:
(page
124) TRANSPORTATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal: Provide for a system
of streets, sidewalks, parking areas, traffic controls and other
related facilities, which will provide safe, convenient and reliable
movement of people and goods.
(page
126) j. Explore the creation of a fund
that would allow developers to make contributions in lieu of building
a sidewalk in front of properties that do not provide connectivity.
This fund could then be used to rehabilitate existing sidewalks or
extend existing sidewalks into appropriate areas.
(page
131) d. Build sidewalks or multi-use paths to public sites including
parks and recreation centers.
This is the point where I need to leave things up to you, the reader, to make a determination of whether the words written in either the Town Code or the Comprehensive Plan match up to what you see in physical reality of your community. Each of you is likely to have a somewhat different perspective. Each of you is likely to be passionate about different aspects of the 'intended' goal of each document and the level to which those goals are being or have been achieved. What makes this Country great?! The freedom of thought and the freedom to express those thoughts. Perhaps Thomas Jefferson said it best:
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." -Thomas Jefferson