Gresham Smith Selected to Develop Bicycle Master Plan for University of Kentucky Campus

9月 2, 2020

Gresham Smith is proud to announce that the firm has been selected by the University of Kentucky to develop a bicycle master plan for the school’s 900-acre campus in Lexington. The multidisciplinary project team of engineers, planners and landscape architects will identify opportunities to build upon the University’s existing bicycle infrastructure, programs and initiatives, ultimately delivering a roadmap to enhance how students, staff and community members use multimodal transportation to cruise through campus.

“We are thrilled to have Gresham Smith on board helping UK enhance our campus in a way that makes getting around on two wheels not just an option, but a natural choice for students and employees,” said Sandra Broadus, Alternative Transportation Manager at The University of Kentucky. “A connected network of infrastructure that feels safe and intuitive and that will ultimately increase the number of folks who choose sustainable multimodal transportation is what we are striving for.”

“With the growth of their bicycle network, the University of Kentucky has made strides on a national scale. We are excited to build upon that framework to help them take the leap from bicycle-friendly to bicycle-first,” said Mike Sewell, P.E., active transportation service line leader at Gresham Smith. “We have an opportunity to connect the campus and community to the places they care about most. Our proven track record of successful master planning, combined with our personal interest in advancing bicycling as a mode of transportation, gives us a unique perspective and we can’t wait to help create an even more enjoyable experience for bike and scooter commuters.”

The first phase of the project will focus on assessing the University’s current network, which helped land UK status as a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University in 2018. In addition to their own site visits and bike rides through campus, the Gresham Smith team will engage with advisory committee members, students, faculty and staff to learn about their experiences with the facilities.

Next, the project team will offer a variety of context-sensitive design solutions to take the campus’ bike facilities to the next level, such as dedicated bike paths and lanes, shared-use trails, improved signals and signage and increased access to the City of Lexington’s bicycle network. Once they have developed design alternatives, the team will collect feedback from the campus community through online maps and surveys, interactive workshops, pop-up installations along heavily traveled corridors and virtual reality demonstrations.

During the final phase of the project, Gresham Smith will incorporate community feedback into the master plan, which will serve as a roadmap for prioritizing bicycle infrastructure and programming in capital improvement projects. The firm will also work with the University to achieve Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly University status from the League of American Bicyclists.

Gresham Smith has successfully delivered numerous multi-modal plans across the Southeast. The firm is responsible for the City of Lexington’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and helped design Lexington’s Town Branch Commons development. Gresham Smith also provided design and engineering services for Cobb County, Georgia’s Greenways & Trails Master Plan and improvements to the City of Louisville, Kentucky’s Urban Bike Network, among other projects.