Strategic Planning Meeting for Sidewalks and Bikeways

I attended a noon public meeting today for Metro's Sidewalks and Bikeways Strategic Plan, which has been in effect since 2003. Sidewalks and bikeways are less sexy than English Only and Anti-Tax Referendums, but they are infinitely more important than the latter for the everyday life of this community.

Engineer Jim Snyder told us that the public meetings were being held to get feedback for moving to the next stage, Phase II of the project. He told us that out of over 750 sidewalks in Nashville, over 100 had been repaired or replaced since the plan's inception. Sidewalks are either installed or repaired based on points assigned to areas with schools, parks, and libraries. In the case of schools, I was told afterward that every public school--magnet, commuter, and more classically neighborhood--are given points for sidewalks.

After 30 minutes of speaking, Mr. Snyder directed the audience to save their questions for small-group break-out sessions in four stations with Planning officials so that a few people would not monopolize the Q & A time. The problem was that a few people seemed to monopolize the break-out sessions anyway. The small groups were not facilitated, and I waited patiently at least 15 minutes listening to one person give feedback about sidewalks in Nipper's Corner to planning officials before I gave up and dashed across the room to another free planning official to have my questions answered and my comments recorded. It seems that if Mr. Snyder had entertained questions during the main session, he could have more effectively controlled the clock than the session leaders did.