• Road networks, cars, trucks, bikes and walking all part of the plan.

“We’re kicking off a Lincoln County Transportation plan and will be working on it through July of next year,”  Thomas McMurtry of Avenue Consultants told SVI Media after hosting a two hour meeting with the county’s communities at the Planning and Zoning office in Afton.

“We’re focusing on the road network, car, trucks, bikes and walking, everything that encompass  transportation in Lincoln County,” he said. And, then focus on the improvements we need.”

McMurtry continued, “We’re working on county roads, paved and gravel and we will even look at off-road trails and how they access the forest.

“We’re looking at all of those elements to come up with a comprehensive plan for Lincoln County.”

The room was packed with local officials seated around tables and deciding how the plan should be addressed in a county that will be growing with industry in the south and residential expansion in the north.

“We invited all of those working on transportation to understand [the need for a plan] such as the county commissioners, the mayors, the forest service, the law enforcement. He said their contribution, “this pertains to their local knowledge of the transportation system. “

McMurtry further explained, “Specifically, the ongoing changes, development, growth, neighborhoods and different seasons.”

He advised, “They answer where we might have some deficiencies. What needs to be repaved widened or improved,   what connections that don’t exist today that we need to think about.”

The consultant said as the plan unfolds, it will be important to hear the “voices of the elected officials and even the residents.”

He added, “We want to hear what improvements they would like to see so we can incorporate them into our plan.”

The consultant laid out the time frame for all those attending.

“We’re going to work on this for the next 11 months. The idea is to deliver a final plan next summer.

“Later this fall we’ll roll out a community wide survey. We’ll invite residents and visitors to tell us about their transportation needs.

“We want to know what improvements they would like to see.

“We want to have a robust understanding of the whole system.”

The coming season will be devoted to collecting and analyzing the information.

“In the winter we will be working on improvements and whatever we can do to make changes,” he said. “And, then we will present the ideas and find out what they like and don’t like about the project. Then,  we’ll put all of that into a plan by next year.

McMurtry concluded, “We’re just kicking it off and it’s a great time to get involved.