Location

Des Moines, IA

Client

City of Des Moines

Services

  • Transportation Planning

  • Active Transportation Planning

  • Community Engagement

Move DSM (Des Moines) Transportation Master Plan

 
Des Moines street map with future bike network

Sam Schwartz partnered with the City of Des Moines to develop its first ever citywide master transportation plan and re-envision how the City thinks about, plans for, designs, and manages its streets. Sam Schwartz developed a street typology system for Des Moines that compliments the City’s future land use goals, considers each street’s role in the overall network, and enables people to travel safely and efficiently using all modes. All of MoveDSM’s recommendations were informed by in-depth analysis and multimedia community and stakeholder engagement.

As part of MoveDSM, Sam Schwartz developed an expanded bike network for the City, with the goal of creating a core network that is comfortable for people of all ages and abilities and connects to key destinations throughout Des Moines. It also identified sidewalk gaps across the city. To help prioritize funding and build support for transportation investments, Sam Schwartz established achievable milestones for completing the highest priority gaps in the sidewalk network and the most impactful segments of the core bike network.

To complement the plan and establish a clear process for project development that adequately addresses the holistic needs of a street, Sam Schwartz also updated the City’s Complete Streets policy to codify its new vision.