Do you know what I haven’t done in a while? Gone to a city open house!
This coming Monday and Tuesday we’ll all get to do just that. It will be our last chance to weigh in on Connections 2040, the Corridor MPO’s long-range plan. And weighing in is more important than you think.
The Corridor MPO had our monthly meeting yesterday and we went over the draft for the long-range plan. The ~200 page thick draft has a lot of information in it, but the concern is not how long it might take one to read, but in how we will achieve our plan with the limited MPO funds that we control. We will of course be looking at creative ways to fill in funding gaps, but it is just as important to make sure the projects we choose are necessary and prioritized appropriately. This is where YOU come in to play. Let the Corridor MPO know which projects are important and which ones can wait or be removed. Share your opinion and vision for our metro area so that our money is flowing in the right directions. Also, make sure that the plan reflects how you want to see the area grow because transportation and development go hand in hand.
Two afternoon open houses will be held from 11:00 to 1:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (350 1st Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids) on Monday, May 24th and Tuesday, May 25th. An evening open house will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 pm in the Hiawatha Community Center (101 Emmons Street in Hiawatha) on Monday, May 24th. They will be open house format and you are encouraged to come and go when you can. A brief presentation will be held twice during each open house, at 11:15 am and 12:15 pm during the afternoons, and at 4:45 and 5:45 pm during the evening.
The official press release can be found Corridor MPO_Press Release_May 20 2010, and for more information you can visit www.connections2040.com.
Tags: cedar rapids, Corridor MPO, Ely, Fairfax, Funding, Hiawatha, Linn County, Marion, Robins
