Your Commute Complaints Could Shape the Next 25 Years of St. Cloud Roads

(KNSI) – The next time you sit through a light cycle twice, hit a stretch of sidewalk that dead-ends into a ditch, or wait on a bus that never quite lines up with your shift, somebody actually wants to hear about it.

The St. Cloud Area Planning Organization is asking area residents to describe their day-to-day experiences walking, biking, driving and riding transit as the agency builds Imagine 2055, the region’s next long-range transportation plan. The comment window runs through the end of 2026.

The plan is not an abstract exercise. It will steer multimillion-dollar investment decisions across the region’s roadways, public transit system and walking and biking networks over the next 25 years.

APO Executive Director Brian Gibson said resident feedback is one piece of a larger picture the agency is assembling as it decides what gets built and what waits.

“The public’s experience with transportation is one layer of information that will be compiled along with transportation data like crash data, pavement quality, bridge condition, etc., to help us paint a more complete picture of what is working and what is not working as well as it should,” Gibson said.

He said the goal is to write a plan that targets the region’s biggest problems, and that requires hearing from as many people as possible.

“Transportation is meant to serve everyone. Your experiences help us understand what is working, where you face barriers, and which improvements matter most,” Gibson said.

Residents can weigh in at www.imagine2055.com, which also lists local events where APO staff will be taking comments in person. Comments can also be emailed to Senior Transportation Planner Vicki Johnson at ikeogu@stcloudapo.org or Associate Transportation Planner Alex McKenzie at mckenzie@stcloudapo.org. The APO office can be reached at 320-252-7568.

Gibson said the input collected now will help determine which projects rise to the top of the funding list.

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