Around Des Moines

The fall Citizen Transportation Congress was held on October 23, 2007, at Roosevelt High School. This public meeting occurs in May and in October and is hosted by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMAMPO). I chanced upon the event when I was at Roosevelt to teach a Community Education course.

Checking out the DMAMPO web site I discovered that there had been a public comment period, ending October 5, for input on the central Iowa bicycle-pedestrian transportation plan. There also had been an October 16 public input meeting on the Fiscal Year 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP project listed on the public notice is to widen Route R63 from Route G24 to the southern limits of the Des Moines. The bicycle-pedestrian meeting was for the draft plan and sought to answer questions such as: Do the goals and objectives address your priorities? What issues(s) were not addressed? Do you have concerns, comments, or questions?

According to a pamphlet available at the congress, the DMAMPO has roundtables to work on issues of transit, freight, and bicycle-pedestrian. For example, the Des Moines airport is considered to be an inland port and thus there are issues involved with how to move freight in and out of that port. In addition to the roundtables the MPO has a traffic management advisory committee, a regional planning committee, and the Citizen Transportation Congress. A picture in the pamphlet of an earlier congress reveals the same few people as were at last night’s congress.

The DMAMPO is comprised of 19 communities: Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Dallas County, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Mitchellville, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Polk County, Urbandale, Warren County, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Windsor Heights. As with most other growth and transportation entities in the state, the representatives to the DMAMPO are city council members, county supervisors, mayors, and an occasional non-elected city official. Chris Coleman, the incumbent at-large city councilor in Des Moines currently seeking re-election, and Brian Meyer, the Ward 4 city councilor seeking re-election, are part of the DMAMPO.

Coleman also is part of the Growth Scenario Task Force. The DMAMPO is looking at finalizing a 5-county growth plan and the transportation needs that go along with the growth up to the year 2035. As part of this project, a Stakeholders Working Group is being created. According to a slide presentation at last night’s congress, composition of the working group is currently being decided by committees. It is anticipated that the group will be formed and begin to meet in January 2008. The group will consist of stakeholders representing general issues in addition to the specific areas of agriculture, historic preservation, wildlife and natural resources, housing and economic development, public policy, waste management, and water management.

DART also held its monthly meeting on October 23. According to a Des Moines Register article on October 24 the DART board is considering light rail for either downtown, to Ankeny, or along University Avenue.
Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.