Improving traffic flow, establishing bike and pedestrian paths and getting motorists to stop using residential neighborhoods as traffic thoroughfares were main topics at the ninth public meeting for the Slidell Master Plan Wednesday night.

The Master Plan will determine the growth of Slidell for the next 20 years. Other meetings have addressed specific needs for the seven planning districts in the city. Wednesday’s meeting concentrated on transportation issues. Consultants for the plan are Urban Systems and Associates and Villavaso and Associates, who conducted the meetings.

Residents at the meetings were shown maps of proposed bike routes, proposed road projects and different methods of limiting traffic in residential neighborhoods. After a 45-minute “fair” in which residents looked at the proposed plans, the meeting was re-convened to discuss the proposals and get input for Slidell residents.

“Bike and pedestrian paths seem to be priority one,” Jim Messina with Urban Systems and Associates said after reading people’s comments.

Sue deRada, president of Bike Initiative Pedestrian Action Committee, or BI-PAC, a group actively pushing for bike paths in the city that will connect with the proposed Tammany Trace Trailhead in Heritage Park, showed a map of the city with five proposed bike routes coming from East Slidell and converging at Heritage Park.

Even though most at the meeting wanted the bike paths, Councilman Bill Borchert pointed out the parish still needs to bring the Tammany Trace into the city before Slidell can build their own bike paths. But others like Planning Director Tim Jackson said that to get funding for bike paths, the city must come up with a plan to present to the state and federal authorities when applying for grants.

“You have to have documentation,” Jackson said. “It’s easier to get the money if you have a plan.”

Derada said the bike routes could be set up without a lot of construction, just by putting up signs that warn motorists they are sharing the road with bike riders. After funding is procured, then permanent paths could be built. Other residents, like Brugiere resident Buddy Lloyd, though in favor of bike paths said it was more important to keep traffic from using his neighborhood and others like major streets.

“We have to encourage cars to use certain corridors and not cut through our neighborhoods,” Lloyd said.

The consultants presented several solutions to the problem, such as building center islands, narrowing entrances to neighborhood roads and using diagonal diverters to keep traffic out. However, these all cost money, and that was a concern for city officials.

But residents like Bob Barker said the city should start the projects anyway.

“Let’s start some of this at the city level, and then apply for more money from the state,” Barker said.

Slidell Chief of Staff Bob Dunbar agreed.

“If enough people want it, it can be done,” Dunbar said. “We have to put the pressure on the powers-that-be. We do it first ourselves and then the money will come.”

There was some good news on future road projects. Parish and state funds are going to install lighting at the intersection of Interstate 12 and Northshore Boulevard. U.S. Highway 11 from Brown Village Road to Pearl River is getting a new surface as well as from Louisiana Highway 433 to West Hall Avenue. With the advent of the Summit Fremaux project and the opening of the Fremaux/ Interstate 10 interchange, there will be a new service road between La. 433 and U.S. Highway 190B, which should ease north and south traffic in Slidell.

Future road projects that have not been funded yet are widening U.S. 11 to four lanes between U.S. 190 and I-12, widening U.S. 190 to four lanes Front Street to Northshore Boulevard, and adding an extension from Airport Road east to U.S. 11.

All the residents’ comments will be considered for the final draft of the Master Plan which is expected to be released at the end of the summer. Messina said that the next public meeting will be sometime at the end of June and will discuss land use issues.