Walking, bike trails unveiled

Saturday, April 20, 2013
Former Columbia Mo. mayor Darwin Hindman, speaks to about three dozen Nevada community leaders about the Healthy Nevada Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan unveiled during a meeting at the Franklin P. Norman City/County Community Center on Wednesday.

Community leaders from throughout Nevada gathered at the Franklin P. Norman City/County Community Center early Wednesday to attend the unveiling of the Healthy Nevada Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan that was developed by the PedNet Coalition of Columbia.

The process for establishing a master plan began back in August when representatives of PedNet came to Nevada for a few days to determine some of the city's strengths and weaknesses as well as its potential to become a visionary city that, along with Cerner Inc., will create a new way for the entire town to live healthier, happier, more productive lives.

Cerner paid the $65,000 for the study as its first big investment in the Healthy Nevada Project. The information gathered in several key areas is intended to provide an essential and solid foundation from which to build the Healthy Nevada envisioned by Cerner and the city.

The consultants from PedNet spent a lot of time driving around the city and outlying areas. They talked to business owners, residents and city leaders and tried to develop a picture of what the city offered and what was possible to develop in the areas of bicycle and pedestrian trails, what the city's access to healthy foods was like and how expensive it is and how those things could be integrated into a system of policies and actions that would offer a healthier community.

Because of the enormous amount of information gathered and generated by the study, only the bicycle and pedestrian trails aspect of the project was rolled out on Wednesday. Cerner's executive, Erik Gallimore, welcomed the crowd of three dozen people and said the study would be used as a guiding tool. Then he introduced city manager J.D. Kehrman.

Kehrman has been instrumental in getting the Healthy Nevada Project off the ground. He said the project is "going to change the way we do business in Nevada." Kehrman emphasized that the entire Vernon County community needs to be engaged in the health issues facing its residents. Kehrman used the library as a metaphor for the city.

The community's past in the Bushwhacker Museum located in the basement of the building, the present is located in the high tech library facility on the second floor, and the future of Nevada is happening on the third floor of the structure with the construction of the Healthy Nevada Innovation Center which represents a $745,000 investment on Cerner's part. The Innovation Center will serve as a base of operations for the project.

The next speaker was consultant Robert Johnson of PedNet. "We're all about non motorized transportation," he said. Johnson said everybody should have the opportunity to walk or bike to a destination in town. He gave the group in front of him some information about the master plan and how it showed the current facilities like sidewalks and trails and crosswalks.

There are 45 miles of sidewalks in Nevada. Most of them in the older parts of town. They vary in size and condition, but they are opportunities. The plan also reveals some opportunities for new walks and trails. There are several trail options in the city, but only two were discussed during the meeting because of time constraints.

Mike Snyder, the senior parks planner for the city of Columbia took the floor to say that he could see trails making Nevada a bike and pedestrian friendly town. He said the study looked at road right of ways, railroad corridors, creeks and streets all as possible sites for trails. He emphasized that the project needs to focus on what could be accomplished in the next 5 to 10 years. "You need a success to get this thing started," he said.

Snyder gave the old Missouri Pacific Railroad bed on the south side of town as one of the best sites. The corridor is already there, he said, and there is a good sound, elevated, gravel base already laid. That will make it low maintenance and completing a project there quicker, easier and cheaper than some other options. The railroad option would be a five mile trail.

The other trail option was a loop trail from the northwest corner of Walton Lake straight north to Newton Burial Park then east to Ash Street and back south to join the existing trail on the east side of Walton Park. That option would create a 1.4 mile trail. There was also some discussion about Austin Boulrevar, but it was not considered an insurmountable obstacle in creating a trail system that would connect the north and south parts of the city at some point in the future.

Keynote speaker Darwin Hindman, the former mayor of Columbia, took the floor for the longest part of the presentation. He called the Healthy Nevada Project a "tremendous example of private partnership. He said they are not government plans but a private sector initiative that has to make economic sense if it is going to be replicated and sustainable. He said adopting the plan is free and that implementing it can be done incrementally.

Hindman has long been a supporter of this kind of project. He convinced Governor John Ashcroft to build the Katy Trail. He travels a lot advocating for changes to the way we travel in our communities. He said that Nevada was well suited for such plans because of its layout, the distances involved the gentle grade of the land, the existing infrastructure and the compact nature of the city, all offerimg "the opportunity to bring about positive change in peoples lives."

Hindman cited a lot of medical statistics on diabetes, obesity and other issues facing this and other communities. He made it clear that people want to live where there is a good lifestyle and the Healthy Nevada Project is going to offer that. It can create significant economic development he said. And it will increase the quality of life for people living here.

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