| Cooperation- The Key to Success by Janette Brown
Helen Keller once said, "Alone I can do so
little; together we can do so much more." Virginia’s New River City is
the benefactor of a much needed safety enhancement project, thanks to the latest
cooperative effort between Radford University, the City of Radford, and the Virginia Department of Transportation
(VDOT). Located between Tyler Avenue and University Drive, the East Main Street safety
improvement project consists of relocating approximately 1,700 linear feet of roadway.
Additionally, 5’ wide bike lanes will accompany each side of the new street, as well
as a 5’ wide sidewalk on the south side of the roadway. The purpose of this project
is to improve pedestrian safety by repositioning East Main Street in the location of the
existing parking lot, while improving parking access and quality so that it is adjacent to
the University. To further enhance pedestrian safety, there will be approximately 1,000
linear feet of landscaped median, further calming traffic in this heavily traveled area
and providing a needed barrier between pedestrians and automobiles.
The key to the project’s success has been the creative opportunity
for the City, the University, and VDOT to work together to both enhance the University and the safety of its students while
enhancing the streetscape of the downtown area and further integrating the campus and the
City. David Burdette, Vice President for Business and Governmental Affairs, says of the
East Main Street relocation, "This project has been a wonderful opportunity for the
private sector and public sector to work together to improve the safety and traffic flow
of a major highway going into and out of the City of Radford. This includes the
cooperative efforts of the City of Radford, VDOT, Radford University, and Anderson &
Associates." Tony Cox, Radford City Manager, further expands by saying, "The
conflict between pedestrians and vehicles at this location was a concern of the entire
community. The University faced the problem head on and got special funding from the
legislature. The City was happy to expedite the project and has worked closely with the
University to coordinate planning. This project has helped strengthen our relationship. We
expect that the project will not only address a traffic concern, but will help build a
foundation for even more cooperation in the future."
For more information about A&A's streetscape and traffic services, please contact
Brad Stipes at (800) 763-5596 or by e-mail at stipes@andassoc.com.
&
Users Group Conference a Success
by David Sterling
The 2003 Anderson
& Associates, Inc. WebGIS Conference was a
huge success. Over thirty representatives from Virginia, West Virginia, North
Carolina, and Tennessee were in
attendance. Topics discussed were "What’s New with WebGIS",
"Fundamentals of GPS", and "Previous Issues and Future Plans with
WebGIS." Future plans discussed in this year’s meeting for WebGIS included
the addition of traffic and weather data into WebGIS. Many of this year’s
participants would also like to see town ordinance specifications incorporated into zoning
or parcel layers. They felt this would be very beneficial to all users of
WebGIS. 
Featured speakers were Dale Loberger and Kevin Yount from ESRI Charlotte.
The highlight was a 3-hour Land Records Management
seminar on Parcel Data Mapping and Migration to the Geodatabase. This
included a live demonstration of the new land parcel data editing
tools in the ArcGIS - ArcEditor software. The tools are
"survey like" in that specific metes and bounds are used to map the
parcels. Best of all, it was done with no customized
programming. Overall, Anderson & Associates was extremely happy with
everyone’s support and we would like to thank all who were in attendance. & |
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