Jefferson City is planning new bike lanes to help connect more city trails with the Katy Trail network.
At the Transportation and Traffic Commission meeting Wednesday, commissioners approved a staff request to remove parking on the east side of the 200 and 300 blocks of Bolivar Street to help make room for planned bike lanes along the sides of the street.
City Engineer David Bange said the effort is part of a regional wayfinding plan, which seeks to help visitors and residents locate districts, landmarks and other venues in town through signs and informational kiosks.
Last year, the city was awarded $214,000 in grant funds from the Transportation Alternatives Program to implement a wayfinding plan, "including fabrication and installation of wayfinding signage for downtown Jefferson City and from the Katy Trail leading into Jefferson City."
The total cost of the project is $267,500, and the grant funds cover 80 percent of that. The majority of the 20 percent local match has been provided by several groups, including Capital Region Medical Center, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Discover Jefferson City Foundation, Downtown Jefferson City, the East Side Business Association, the Historic City of Jefferson and the parking division of the city.
Bange said part of the wayfinding project will install signage from the Katy Trail to the Clay Street bike plaza, and along Bolivar Street, where the new bike lanes are planned, to the Wears Creek Greenway trail head on Dunklin Street.
Kiosks also will be placed in North Jefferson City and at the Clay Street bike plaza that will include information on hotels and restaurants in the area.
To accommodate the two five-foot wide bike lanes on Bolivar Street, Bange said the city would need to eliminate all parking on the east side of the 200 and 300 blocks, which would eliminate 17 parking spaces.
Two residents of Bolivar Street spoke against the removal, one through a letter and the other was present at Wednesday's meeting. Both said parking is already restricted on the east side of the street and it makes it difficult to host large gatherings with family.
The commission unanimously approved the recommendation to eliminate parking on the east side of the 200 and 300 blocks of Bolivar Street, and the request will now go to the City Council for review.
In other business, the commission also approved a staff recommendation to change the speed limit on Ellis Boulevard, from the roundabout at Tanner Bridge Road to Green Berry Road, to 35 miles per hour. The speed limit change is the result of speed study done in November to help evaluate the speeds most commonly used.