Merit - General Planning Project

The City of Steamboat Springs Transportation and Mobility Plan (TMP) is an effort to evaluate existing transportation issues, develop solutions to address them, and chart a course for funding and construction over the next 15 years. The TMP evaluates and identifies projects related to roadway, pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements. The TMP also takes into consideration the many dimensions of transportation including those related to accessibility, quality of life, and social components such as cost of living and environmental footprint.

The TMP reflects the needs and desires of the people who live in, work in, do business in, visit, and take care of the City of Steamboat Springs. Public and stakeholder engagement included an online open house, focus group interviews, meetings with City Council and the Planning Commission, and regular meetings with key stakeholders.

The desired future for transportation in Steamboat must align with what the community values. Transportation can have positive and negative impacts on the economy, quality of life, public health, and the environment. The Steamboat Springs TMP sets guiding principles to act as waypoints toward a multimodal transportation system.

Transportation in Steamboat Springs today and in the near-term can be characterized by how we travel, how we’d like to travel, and the state of our transportation networks. An evaluation of existing conditions provides the starting point from which to envision a desired future. This evaluation considers previous and ongoing planning, travel patterns, crash trends, and demographic information.

The TMP recommends infrastructure projects, programs, and policies to achieve the community’s desired vision. These recommendations represent a long-term vision for transportation in Steamboat Springs. City staff and their partners should revisit and update these recommendations on a regular basis to adapt to and address changes in community needs and transportation conditions.

Because resources are limited (time, funding, and space), the TMP scores and ranks project recommendations to communicate Steamboat Springs’ priorities for improving its transportation infrastructure. The prioritization process indicates what’s most important to reflect the TMP’s guiding principles. Project prioritization serves as a tool to inform Plan implementation.

The final step of the TMP’s planning process was defining which recommendations to implement in the short-term to catalyze the City’s progress toward its envisioned transportation future. The TMP’s implementation strategy provides guidance for what should be done, when it should be done, and by whom.

Overall,  the TMP is a multimodal plan that integrates all forms of travel to create and sustain a safe, connected, and efficient transportation system.