Office: 1st District (at-large)
Candidate: Deb Hermann , Incumbent

1. Bicycling and walking account for less than 4% of all trips made in Kansas City. This is less than half the national average.

Question: How would you increase this rate up to the national average?

Bicycle and pedestrian access needs to be included in all new development and redevelopment plans. Bike/Ped needs to be incorporated in existing infrastructure as it is renovated, where possible. The new bike racks on ATA busses is a positive step. Bike/Ped must also be a strong component of any mass transit plan.

2. Since 2002 Kansas City has had a Council-approved plan called BikeKC to create a network of on-street bikeways throughout all parts of the city. To date very little of that plan has been implemented, due to funding and organizational problems.

Question: How would you work to implement the existing plan?

The existing Bike/Ped plan is deficient in that it is not flexible and contains no funding mechanisms. The plan should be revisited to include funding and allow flexibility to adapt to the varying needs of our neighborhoods and to fit with the existing infrastructure.

3. Since 2003 Kansas City has had a Council-approved walkability plan, which identified several neighborhoods with deficient or non-existent sidewalk networks.

Question: How would you bring sidewalks to all neighborhoods in Kansas City?

We need to be creative -- a workable sidewalk or trail does not have to always be along the curb. The lot depth and clearance from the street and existing infrastructure will not always allow the typical placement of sidewalks. We need to figure out where people need to go and plan our network accordingly.

4. City policy treats sidewalks as the property of the home or business owner. Anyone who wants to, however, can use the sidewalks in front of a home or business.

Question: do you think the city should consider the sidewalk to be a public asset—part of the thoroughfare—or the personal property of the property owner?

Funding of sidewalks, which exist on private property, will remain largely the financial responsibility of the property owner. However, in low income census tracts assistance has been provided and should continue and be expanded. PIAC and CDBG funds have been utilized to assist property owners for the creation or improvement of sidewalks, trails, and alleys.

5. Kansas City's bicycle and pedestrian programs are haphazard and dispersed through many departments, leaving us with no coherent policy and no mechanism to oversee the policy that does exist.

Question: How would you create an integrated transportation system that includes bicycles and pedestrians?

The City Manager has agreed to appoint a full-time Bike/Ped Coordinator which will integrate Bike/Ped as a City policy. I would support the formation of an "advisory committee" to provide best practice recommendations to the City Council.

6. The city currently relies CMAQ and Transportation Enhancements for most of its bike/ped funding. This forces us to compete with all of our suburban neighbors for funding.

Question: Would you support the budgeting of city money for bicycle/pedestrian facilities, and if so how would you accomplish it?

Dedicated funding is needed. I look for neighborhoods to provide us with their priorities for PIAC funds. Our entire inventory of infrastructure is so lacking; I try to fund those things that the neighborhoods feel will make the most significant improvement in their quality of life. I do have neighborhood and staff requests for sidewalk and/or trail funding and most, if not all, of those requests have been honored. I would support Bike/Ped funding as part of a comprehensive transportation and neighborhood improvement strategy.