01485239

Component

Every agency is learning to do more with less. Communities are learning that traditional funding sources for transportation improvements may not provide the financial backing needed to keep their existing infrastructure maintained or provide new improvements to meet the needs of a growing community. In 2006, Sumter County attempted to pass a sales tax referendum intended to fund community infrastructure improvements. The effort was unsuccessful largely because the community was not informed of the proposed projects and the benefits that might come from the improvements. Concurrent to this attempt, the City and County planning staff and Kimley-Horn began updating the Sumter community-wide Long Range Transportation Plan. The staff determined to use this project as a vehicle for improving its approach to the sales tax referendum and identifying strategic projects for future implementation. The study included a more detailed look at needed projects, and an emphasis on revenue projections based on successfully passing the next sales tax referendum. As an offshoot of this project, the City and County staff and Kimley-Horn conducted a corridor study for Lafayette Drive, one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the community. This study included a closer evaluation of two of the proposed sales tax project locations, with conceptual improvement designs as a primary deliverable. The project included an intense public outreach component, providing an opportunity for citizens and business owners to become involved in the plan’s development and ultimately provide buy-in for the improvements. At the conclusion of these projects, the County attempted to pass another sales tax referendum. This time, the planning staff provided greater outreach and education opportunities and a better definition of the included projects. The second referendum passed successfully, and the City and County are currently implementing or designing the proposed projects. The public outreach efforts continue as a means to maintain the community’s involvement. This paper focuses on the lessons learned from these efforts, including the importance of strong community outreach, innovative visualization tools, strategic project selection, and development of both the Long Range Transportation Plan and the subsequent corridor study.

01483192

English

13p

2010

12th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

Digital/other

CD-ROM; Figures; Maps; Photos

Communities; Development; Implementation; Improvements; Infrastructure; Lessons learned; Long range planning; Strategic planning

Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jun 27 2013 2:18PM

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