WHAT’S NEXT FOR VISION 2050?

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ENDORSE

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The first step in implementing VISION 2050 was the adoption of the plan by the Regional Planning Commission, which occurred on July 28, 2016. The next step involves endorsement by the agencies and levels of government that would be responsible for implementing the plan’s various recommendations.

 

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ENDORSEMENT AND INTEGRATION

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The Commission’s adoption starts a formal process, where the Commission sends a certified copy of the adopted plan to all of the Region’s local legislative bodies and to all concerned local, areawide, State, and Federal agencies. The Commission’s request of these bodies is simple: endorse VISION 2050 as a useful guide to the sound development of the Region and integrate its findings and recommendations into their planning, regulatory, and other activities related to land use and transportation.

 

Depending on the agency and level of government, this endorsement and integration may be done in different ways. The Commission staff is available and willing to work with any agency or local government as they determine how to proceed.

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REFINE

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As an advisory and regional plan, VISION 2050 should be viewed as a framework for more detailed county and local planning. It is also subject to adjustment as statewide plans are prepared, national policies and programs are created or changed, and other relevant planning efforts are conducted. During this refinement process, coordination among the various involved entities is critical.

 

The Commission’s request during this stage is also simple: work with Commission staff as plans are prepared that refine VISION 2050, and transmit any relevant plans to the Commission so staff can consider their integration into the adopted regional plan.

 

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COMPREHENSIVE PLANS

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The VISION 2050 land use component includes allocations of population and employment with associated land uses to urban and rural areas, and recommended density ranges by land use category. This provides an overall land use planning framework for the Region that needs to be refined through county and community comprehensive plans, which are effectively required for counties, cities, villages, and towns in Wisconsin by the State comprehensive planning law. Comprehensive plans may vary in format and detail, but generally do the following:

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• Identify the boundaries of urban service areas, which include public sanitary sewer service and typically public water supply service, local parks, schools, and shopping areas

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• Identify residential neighborhoods and other land uses and recommend overall densities for residential neighborhoods within the broader VISION 2050 land use categories (State comprehensive planning law requires local zoning and subdivision ordinances to be consistent with the community’s comprehensive plan)

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• Identify environmentally significant lands and, as appropriate, farmland preservation areas to be preserved consistent with VISION 2050 recommendations

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• Incorporate more detailed neighborhood planning

 

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TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT 

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For the regional plan, the Commission staff cannot feasibly analyze everything that goes into precisely planning individual transit services. To refine and detail VISION 2050’s transit recommendations, each public transit operator is encouraged to work with the Commission to prepare transit development plans (TDPs). These short-range plans typically have a five-year horizon and provide the basis for day-to-day decision-making on initiating new transit services and modifying existing services. They also provide the basis for agencies to program transit projects in their budgets.

 

In addition to the TDPs, VISION 2050 recommends that Commission staff work with transit operators and human services organizations to periodically update plans to coordinate public transit and human services transportation for each county.

 

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ARTERIAL STREET AND HIGHWAY 

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To refine and detail VISION 2050’s arterial recommendations, county and local public works agencies may undertake detailed implementation planning, such as working with the Commission to update county jurisdictional highway system plans or conducting preliminary engineering studies. These efforts can serve as a basis for amending VISION 2050. Additional future planning efforts that would detail the regional plan’s arterial recommendations include:

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• Asset management planning by State and local governments ensures that limited funding resources are used effectively by planning rehabilitation and reconstruction of roadway features consistent with their life cycle

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• A Regional Safety Implementation Plan, to be prepared by the Commission working with WisDOT and local governments, will identify and prioritize arterial intersections and corridors with the most severe crash rates and corrective measures to reduce the number and severity of crashes

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• A Commission study of transportation facilities located in low-lying areas susceptible to flooding will identify potential improvements and adjacent roadway facilities that could serve as alternative routes when flooding occurs

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• A Commission bicycle study will assess arterials that should be prioritized for bicycle accommodation, considering factors such as traffic volume, speed, and congestion

 

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TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT PLANNING

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One TSM recommendation is for Commission staff to work with State and local governments to document traffic signals on the arterial network and develop recommendations (including prioritization) for improving and expanding coordinated signal systems. Related to that recommendation, coordinated traffic signal plans should be prepared along surface arterial routes with signals spaced every one-half mile or less, and agencies should coordinate efforts so that motorists do not experience unnecessary stops or delays due to changes in individual traffic signal jurisdiction authority.

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IMPLEMENT

 

While endorsing the plan and refining its recommendations are important steps, this last step is critical to achieving the plan’s many benefits. Implementation is complex and relies on the coordinated actions of many different entities. The key players involved, and the measures that can be used, are described in the Implementation section of the original plan summary. Tracking implementation of VISION 2050 recommendations, monitoring the forecasts that underlie VISION 2050, and evaluating the performance of the regional transportation system will also be an important aspect of the Commission’s work going forward.

 

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LAND USE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES

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Key Players: local, county, areawide, State, and Federal agencies

 

While comprehensive plans provide needed refinement of VISION 2050, implementation of VISION 2050 also relies on a series of land use measures:

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• Local-level regulatory measures, such as zoning, land division, and official mapping ordinances

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• State- and Federal-level regulatory measures, such as State-local floodplain and shoreland regulations and the Federal wetland regulatory program

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• Non-regulatory implementation measures (carried out by government agencies and non-governmental organizations), such as park and open space acquisition or purchase of conservation easements, purchase and transfer of development rights, municipal boundary agreements, capital improvement programming, and brownfield redevelopment