I thought my readers would be interested in this press release I just received from the City of Peoria:
(Peoria, IL)—The public is invited to attend the City of Peoria’s Infrastructure Design Standards meeting to discuss the content and implementation of an improved set of public infrastructure standards. The City’s design standards have remained relatively unchanged since 1972. The goal of the proposed standards is to improve infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, handling of storm water, etc.) while positioning Peoria as a desirable place and a competitive city for development.
Public comment and participation in the development of the new standards is desired and welcomed. There will be several opportunities for public involvement. Below are details for the first meeting:
Meeting Topic: Infrastructure Design Standards
Location: Dewberry – 401 Water Street, 7th floor
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 12 from 5:00 – 6:30
Parking: City of Peoria parking lot south of 401 Water Street
Hosts: Dewberry and Peoria Public WorksMark your calendar for these future meeting dates:
- Wednesday, September 19 from 5:00 – 6:30
- Wednesday, September 26 from 5:00 – 6:30
To view the Infrastructure Design Standards power point presentation and make comments, go to www.ci.peoria.il.us/infrastructure. The complete document will be available online at the end of the week. To become part of the focus group, call Ray Lees, Dewberry Architectural Group at (309) 282-8000.
And stop by for the next meeting: “How do we pay for this?”.
Return to brick roads?
1972?! I’m sure the statement, “The City’s design standards have remained relatively unchanged for 40 years” can be said for many mid-sized cities across the U.S. It’s currently rearing its ugly head, but we continue to build more roads and extend roads further and further out so as to induce “growth and development.” – didn’t work.
As a huge advocate of placemaking, I find the highlighting of Quality of Place in the presentation noteworthy. It suggests a.)we haven’t and b.)we weren’t going to until we change policy dramatically. On top of that, what we’ve done is cheap and was done for short-term gains – see pictures of “Undesirable Infrastructure” in newer subdivisions on pgs 10-16.
CJ, thank you for posting this, as a member of the public I’d like to attend. Unfortunately, these are the early stages which are easy to conceptually design. The public’s involvement when it comes time to implement these changes is what NIMBY’s things up. Please see One-Way street/Roundabout/Parking arguments across the Tri-County region.