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44 Planning May 2005 work established, construction began in 2001, and the parkway opened to traffic in 2003. _ The initiative of key leaders, primarily elected Whcials, was instrumental in bringing the com- munities together. "Initially, we were nowhere close, but we are at peace now," says Kirk Oglesby, Broomfield's planning director. The communities agreed that managing growth does not mean restricting it. Broomfield has transferred development rights to areas of higher density in the U.S. 36 corridor, and Lafayette has designated a commercial devel- opment area along U.S. 287 north of its intersection with the parkway. At the same time, all the communities involved recognize the importance of setting aside critical preser- vation areas before they are threatened by development pressures. Transit villages In New Jersey, the state Department of Trans- portation has joined with 10 other agencies to support local efforts to revitalize transit-centered downtowns. Under the DOT-led Transit Vil- lages Initiative, the state gives "transit village" designation to communities that promote com- pact, walkable, mixed-use, and residential rede- velopment within walking distance of transit .tations. Designated communities receive state recognition, priority for funding, and technical assistance. To be designated, a community must have an adopted plan (including zoning) that suppons compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly devel- opment. It must also express in writing its will- ingness to add jobs, housing, and population. To date, 16 communities have been named transit villages. A key to this effort is a task force made up of representatives of the participating departments. Its members work with their agencies to provide priority funding and technical assistance for redevelopment. According to New Jersey DOT transit village coordinator Monica Etz, the task force has helped communities navigate agency procedures for securing assistance for housing, economic devel- opment, transportation, and smart growth projects. The task force also has helped communities to rewrite land-use and zoning ordinances. Local officials say they appreciate the positive recogni- tion that comes with the program, and they note that it has helped to attract developers. . The northern borough of Metuchen is one community that has benefited from designa- tion. In 2003, the state provided $600,000 for pedestrian crosswalk signals, traffic calming de- vices, a pedestrian bridge, new bus shelters, and bicycle lanes and racks to improve access to the train station. A grant from the state Office of Smart Growth is helping the borough plan for future growth and redevelopment while pre- serving its unique character. Metuchen had already taken steps in the right direction. In the 1980s, the borough updated its master plan and zoning code to allow downtown residential and mixed-use redevelopment. It also streamlined its permit- ting process for small projects such as renova- tions and additions. Mayor Edmund O'Brien notes that the pace of redevelopment increased rapidly in the mid- 1990s following the conversion of a 1920s-era theater building, later used as a hardware store, to loft apartments with street-fronting retail. Additional conversions and renovations followed. In the past 10 years, the city has added over 500 housing units to the downtown-many of them occupied by rail commuters. O'Brien says the borough's philosophy has been to provide public amenities to entice pri- vate investors to put their own money into redevelopment. Streamlining the permitting pro- cess has been an important factor. "Mom-and- AASHTO Puts Pedestrians in the Front Everyone is a pedestrian at some point in time. That fact is recognized by the new Guide fOr the Planning, Design and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, published last fall by the American Association of Street and Highway Officials. The guide represents a major shift in the transportation field. In the past, information on pedestrian facilities was scattered through- out several references, and was often contra- dictory. The clearly stated purpose of the new publication is "to provide guidance on the planning, design, and operation of pedestrian facilities along streets and highways." The intended audience for the manual in- cludes planners, roadway designers, and state and local transportation engineers-the people who daily make decisions affecting pedestri- ans. The guide also recognizes the profound effect that land-use planning and site design have on pedestrian mobility. The impetus for such a publication goes back to the late 1980s, when bicycle and pedestrian advocates stepped up their lobby- ing efforts on behalf of accommodating nonmotorized modes of travel. The Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 laid the foundation by requiring accessibility improve- ments such as curb ramps. Then came the federal transportation acts, ISTEA in 1991 and TEA-21 in 1998, which specifically instructed the Federal Highway pop businesses have appreciated the more busi- J1ess-friendly experience they get here," he says. Stumbling bloeks The agencies we visited have made great progress in changing their practices to integrate transpor- tation and land use. But still there are stumbling blocks. Many state and regional transportation agen- cies continue to view land use as a local issue and hesitate to become involved on any level. Mean- while, local governments continue to seek state and regional investments to serve new develop- ment, regardless of the transportation require- ments it creates. Coordination is often lacking among agen- cies, or among different divisions of the same agency. Planning, engineering, and environ- mental staffs within state DOTs and within municipalities often do not interact closely. One result is that roadway designs may not support community land-use objectives. Transportation agencies are typically short on funding, staff resources, and the technical skills needed for land-use planning. Political Administration to work with professional groups such as AASHTO and the Institute of Trans - portation Engineers to integrate pedestrians into the transportation system. Section 1202 of TEA-21 specifically states, "Bicycle trans- portation facilities and pedestrian walkways shall be considered, where appropriate, in conjunction with all new construction and reconstruction of transportation projects." That legislation resulted in a National Co- operative Highway Research Program grant to produce a best practices guide for pedes- trian facility design. (The NCHRP, which is sponsored by AASHTO in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, was cre- ated in 1962 to conduct research in highway problem areas.) Representatives from public agencies, the private sector, and universities were included on the project team. The team began by reviewing the major national design guides, including AASHTO's Green Book, FHWA'sManualon Uniftrm Traffic Control Devices, and ITE's transportation plan- ning and engineering handbooks. The draft guidelines produced by the team were then reviewed and approved by an NCHRP panel. The design guide was officially adopted by AASHTO in September 2004. From the beginning, the new guide makes it clear that providing for pedestrians is a basic road- way design element, not something to be added