Our Picture of Health 1998:
Focusing on Community Health to the Year 2000CHAPTER 8: BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Mesa County housing and infrastructure will expand to accommodate growth. Existing infrastructure will be maintained to avoid deterioration and obsolescence.
Value
Mesa County housing and infrastructure will expand to accommodate growth. Existing infrastructure will be maintained to avoid deterioration and obsolescence.
Goals
A. Mesa County will have a reliable, safe, cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing and accessible multi-modal transportation system throughout the Grand Valley.
B. Mesa County will have affordable and dependable multi-modal transportation that supports movement of commerce and movement of people with the rest of the state and country.
C. All people living in Mesa County will have access to a variety of affordable types of housing in safe neighborhoods.
D. Waste water and storm water management systems across the county will meet or exceed maintenance standards and growth demand.
E. All Mesa County residents will have access to quality drinking water.
F. Mesa County will have emergency services available at an acceptable level of response as compared to other communities of similar population and geographical size.
G. Mesa County, the City of Grand Junction, and School District 51 will work together to plan for future sites of school buildings in relationship to existing transportation infrastructure for bus and automobile transport of children as well as safety of children walking and biking to and from school.
H. Mesa County and the City of Grand Junction will work together to develop a comprehensive Master Parks Plan for development in urban areas of the county and the city.
Introduction
Other chapters in this report focus on people and how Mesa County addresses socio-economic issues. This chapter looks at the concrete — transportation, housing, and utilities. It looks at the infrastructure of the community.
The built environment of the community should both meet the need and be aesthetically pleasing. It is vital, for example, to have good roads that have the capacity to handle traffic flows. It is also important to people in Mesa County that those roads enhance, or at a minimum, not interfere with the beauty of the natural environment.
There are 24 miles of bicycle paths, and another 20 miles of bicycle lanes.
Land use is a fundamental part of both the built environment and the natural environment. This report addresses all land issues in chapter nine, Natural Environment.
Mesa County does a good job of keeping roads in good shape. Grand Junction incorporates bike paths into most new roads. It also includes aesthetic elements such as green space and lights as it upgrades roads.
Water issues are a major source of concern for all of the Western Slope of Colorado. Because of that concern, this chapter includes a thorough look at water. Housing is an issue that could fall either under economy or built environment. For the most part, the market takes care of itself — a shortage of housing leads to high costs, and new building. As supply meets demand the prices stabilize. The affordability issue has been a concern for citizens because the rise in housing costs has out-paced wage increases for about the past five years.
Another key factor to built environment is accessibility, particularly for people with disabilities. Housing for people with disabilities is limited. Transportation for people with disabilities is available, but difficult to access.
Figure 8-0: Vehicle Miles Traveled in Urbanized Grand Junction
Source: 1974-83 Grand Junction Urbanized Area Transportation Plan: 1985-2010; 1990-1995, 1992 Roads Needs Study: 2010, MinUTP Traffic Model.
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