Miamisburg seeks public input on long-term city transportation plan

Nov. 6—Miamisburg leadership is working to develop and adopt a new, modern "transportation plan" to replace a "thoroughfare plan" adopted three decades ago.

The city last week said the Thoroughfare Plan adopted in 1993 "no longer serves the transportation needs of a 21st-century community." Instead, the Miamisburg Transportation Plan will incorporate all the transportation design advancements that occurred since then.

"In the last 30 years, there's been a lot more movement toward incorporating all modes of transportation when you're doing roadway design," city planner Andrew Rodney told the Dayton Daily News on Friday. "So rather than just worry about moving cars, you worry about moving people."

That, Rodney said, includes meeting the needs of all transportation users, including transit users, pedestrians, individuals with mobility challenges, children, cyclists and "all manner of different roadway users."

The plan will be developed over the next several months, and Miamisburg City Council is expected to consider the plan sometime in early 2024.

The first opportunity for public involvement will be an open house from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Miamisburg Branch of the Dayton Metro Library at 545 E. Linden Ave. Staff from the city and Cincinnati-based engineering and planning firm CT Consultants will share background data to be used for plan development and accept comments from the public.

Interested parties also may complete a short survey at www.tinyurl.com/cityofmiamisburg. Future opportunities for public involvement will be announced throughout the plan's development.

"There's been a lot of research done over the years on how to design a road to accommodate all these different users that just didn't exist back in 1993, so we're just looking to incorporate all of those advancements in design into our new transportation system," he said.

The new transportation plan will seek to serve the needs of all users by identifying elements required within the public right-of-way, such as sidewalks, handicap ramps, bike lanes, shared-use paths, lighting, pedestrian amenities, intersection crosswalks and ADA-compliant traffic signals.

"We as a community have realized that there are many different types of individuals who use the transportation network, and it's important that we incorporate elements into the transportation system that accommodate their specific needs," Rodney said. "Not everyone has the ability either physically, financially or age-wise to drive a car, and so we understand that folks need to get around town in many different ways."

The changes won't occur overnight, but certain elements will be required as roadways are updated by the city, or where adjacent private development requires improvements along the existing public street frontage, according to the city.