COLUMN: Get past the not-my-department mindset and keep multimodal priorities on the right path

This is a response to the Oct. 16 article “Bicycle and pedestrian priorities squeak past council.”  

Much of the dissent regarding the plan came from Councilman Jim Bagby, and I want to take issue with a number of his conclusions.  

First let me say I like Jim. I had the privilege of serving on a committee he chaired a few years ago. He is smart, thoughtful and not afraid to go against the “old way” of doing things. Don't worry, I won't call him a maverick for fear it will do irreparable harm to his political career.

At the city council meeting, Bagby said the 18 surveys the company received from residents didn't give them enough feedback: “It's a very good cross section of folks but 18 people shouldn't be telling us our capital improvement plan for the next five years,” he said.

Certainly a larger turnout would have been great.  However, the fact remains that the folks who were there were the “right” people.

The May 7 workshop was held during the Local Planning Agency’s normally scheduled meeting.  You not only had that committee but me (an avid bicyclist) along with fellow Public Safety and Public Works Committee member Nancy Weidenhamer.  

Joe Bodi, the assistant city engineer, who works tirelessly for this cause was very involved that night as he is every single day. There were also a number of members from the Emerald Coast Cyclists in attendance, including club president Steve Fiskar.  

Finally, my friend Chuck Preston, a svelte senior who is seen biking every single morning, showed up to give his opinion.  

You may recall a Log story earlier in the year where he pedaled 80 miles on his 80th birthday.
To suggest that our representation isn't “good enough” is a slap in the face to all of us who worked so hard that evening and every day if you happen to be on a committee.

Bagby stated that “the list places too much emphasis on Crystal Beach, and if Renaissance (the planning group that did the study) had gone to a PTO meeting at Destin Elementary they'd have gotten a completely different set of priorities.”

However, the facts are that Renaissance (due to our group’s input) placed a very high emphasis on DES. It was a given from the very beginning that the school was of paramount importance. In fact, schools ranked third out of the top 20 destinations.

The reason Hutchinson Street weighed so heavily is that it is essentially the end of Danny Wuerffel Way (the Mid Bay Bridge Road). This is the main north/south artery to and from our city.  Hence, bicyclists heading to and from Niceville, Destin Commons or Destin Middle School would have safe avenues to travel on.

Finally — and this is the biggie — Bagby also objected that the No. 3 priority was a Commons Drive multi-use pathway for both pedestrians and cyclists, even though Commons lies in Okaloosa County.

Well, I will take full responsibility for this one because I rammed it down Renaissance's collective throat and here's why: This is a prime example of what is wrong with government; this silly notion that it is “not our department” so to speak.  

The fact is Commons Drive is the only east/west alternative to Highway 98 and it is vital to connecting the two ends of our city … period. It shouldn't be treated as a step child because 25 years ago Mattie Kelly and Burney Henderson flexed their collective muscles to keep their then undeveloped land from being annexed solely for the reason of avoiding additional taxes.  

Albeit a noble cause… but I digress.

Talk to Karl Kitchen, a manager at Wal-Mart who will tell you they recover over 100 shopping carts every month from folks who use that road to literally bring home the groceries.  

Tell that to the workers who are seen bicycling on the narrow ribbon curbing running along the edge of Commons. It’s like a high-wire act: Too far to one side and you get hit by a car, lean to the other side and you go into a ditch the size of the Suez Canal.  

Tell that to the countless workers and shoppers who have to walk in the knee-high weeds, stickers and sand to get to and from work or to shop.

It is time to stop playing politics and do something about this road, which ironically is not part of the multimodal plan (because it isn't in the city) yet the land is part of the plan (because it has been annexed).

You read me right. The road isn’t part of the multimodal plan but the buildings are! That's why the Alexan Henderson Apartments are so close to the road that you can high five the residents on their back porch as you drive by. And yet there are no bicycle lanes!

Doesn't the very word modal imply getting to and from someplace? How can you have a multimodal plan where the buildings are part of it but the road isn't?

Only in government, that's where!

Scott Swearingen, who authored the plan, got it right when he told Mr. Bagby “the high rank could give added weight to the city's position when it's talking with the county about plans for Commons.”

Want proof? Look no further than the newly approved roundabout at the east end of Commons (behind TGI Friday's). Thanks to open-minded leaders who understand cooperation for the better good, the city and the county are working jointly on the design yet it is being paid for entirely by the county.

Way to go Commissioner James Campbell and Mayor Craig Barker who made this feat possible!

It’s time we all work together — citizens, politicians, committee members and businesses — to get Commons Drive done right, like the newly completed part behind the Morgan Sports Complex.

The five-year pathway plan is a good one, and I for one am proud to have played a small part in its development.

Furthermore I want to thank all of my fellow committee members and staff who attended Renaissance's presentation to the LPA on Sept. 17 and were very instrumental in providing me their input to make this city a better, safer place to walk or bike.

R Tim Krueger is chairman of the Public Safety/Public Works Committee in Destin.