The easier it is for people to move about within Uptown, the better the quality of life and the stronger the economy is in each of the five neighborhoods of Uptown, benefiting all who live, work, study and visit here. To ensure that the mobility options are appropriately varied and robust, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) in partnership with SORTA/ METRO, is conducting a Mobility Needs Assessment.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to gain a clear sense of what mobility solutions are working and what gaps exist that we can help address in Uptown,” said Beth Robinson, President and CEO of UCI. “This task is focused on engaging, hearing, and understanding the mobility wants and needs of residents, students, employees, transit riders, businesses, institutions, and community stakeholders.”
This assessment will not start from a blank slate but, rather, include a re-examination of previous mobility studies and the latest Uptown demographic data reflecting the impact of Uptown’s current or planned developments. The assessment’s core, however, will be shaped by input from Uptown stakeholders: residents, neighborhoods and institutions.
“Without doubt, the most important piece of input will be hearing from as many Uptown stakeholders as possible,” said Robinson. “We want to understand where they want to go in Uptown, when they want to go there and how they would prefer to get there.”
With this in mind, Robinson explained that currently there are virtual and in-person engagements happening to gather stakeholder feedback. In addition, all community members are encouraged to complete an online survey. (Please see the box below for details.)
Uptown’s Mobility Needs Assessment has four primary goals:
Connect workers, residents, students, employees and visitors in the business districts with restaurants and other businesses in the area.
Connect residents to key services including groceries and healthcare.
Connect the Innovation Corridor with the rest of the Uptown area.
Determine the most effective and efficient model to deliver mobility services.
The assessment will explore and evaluate existing services and mobility needs will be focused on how to improve mobility to support residents, businesses, institutions, and continued investments in Uptown. The work will examine parking, land use, existing services, and met and unmet mobility needs. This includes leveraging critical local knowledge, previous work such as Reinventing METRO and the Uptown Mobility Study, both led by AECOM, Benesch, C Robinson Assoc. and convening and coordinating with stakeholders and communities within the area through a robust outreach program.
“While the largest effort of this study is conducting the public outreach and engagement, the central focus of the effort is to understand and develop an attractive and feasible mobility solution and framework for the residents, institutions, businesses, and visitors within Uptown,” said Khaled Shammout, SORTA's Chief Strategic Planning, Development and Innovation Officer.
Based on the public input and the analysis of existing services and gaps in mobility needs, the assessment team will develop a series of mobility concepts to serve the range of needs within the Uptown area.
Move Us with Your Input
UCI is inviting Uptown stakeholders and community members to fill out the Mobility Needs Assessment survey here. It will be available through March 31, 2022.
For more information about the project, please send an email to Brooke Rapp, Director of Community Development, Uptown Consortium, Inc.: brapp@uptownconsortium.org.