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Chester County, PA |Chester Valley Trail

 COMMUNITY 

 TRANSPORTATION

PROVIDING INNOVATION SOLUTIONS

FOR ALL USERS

McMahon’s Community Transportation services are provided by a multi-disciplinary team of professional planners, engineers, urban designers and public engagement specialists. We focus on transportation to build better communities through a multimodal approach that reflects the vision of an individual neighborhood. Our methods are tailored to the unique needs of a community by combining a local understanding with our technical expertise.

 

Because we plan and design transportation within the context of local streets, we have firsthand knowledge of how to implement safe and efficient transportation facilities. We plan and design transportation with users of all ages and abilities in mind, recognizing that an individual’s mobility choices are often a combination of walking, bicycling, driving, shared mobility and using public transportation. These choices may be combined in a single trip and vary by day, week or time of the year, but all are essential for people to connect where they live, work and play.

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Walk Bike

WALK BIKE

LOCAL &

REGIONAL CONNECTIONS

RELATED SERVICES

  • Trails, multiuse paths
    & greenways

  • On-site bicycle facilities

  • ADA accessible sidewalks

  • Pedestrian & bicycle crossings

  • Complete streets

  • Bicycle & pedestrian master plans

  • First-/last-mile connections

  • Site circulation

  • Bridges

McMahon works closely with municipalities, business owners, higher education institutions and school districts, nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholders to plan and design walking and biking connections in both urban and rural settings. These solutions may include off-street multiuse paths that connect a regional transit hub to an employment center, or on-street separated bicycle lanes through a neighborhood commercial district.

Planning and designing for walking and biking as integrated networks connects people to community amenities, while reducing dependence on driving and the associated traffic congestion. 

BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN SHOWCASE PROJECT 

Fort Myers Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan 

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Watertown Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan 

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PROJECTS

STREETSCAPE 

TRANSFORMATIONS

RELATED SERVICES

  • Complete streets

  • Multimodal corridor studies

  • Accessible sidewalks

  • Integrated bicycle facilities

  • Parking management

  • Transit planning

  • Microtransit

  • Pedestrian scale lighting

Consistent sidewalks, pedestrian scale lighting, amenities and landscaping can transform the main street of a village, suburban business district or urban core. Street improvement projects can address a wide variety of issues, such as pedestrian safety, accessibility, traffic calming, green infrastructure and parking. 

Considerations like the placement of parking, whether on-street or off-street, and integration of bicycle facilities and transit stops and stations also contributes to the comfort, safety and usability of a street for all ages and abilities. 

PROJECTS

RELATED SERVICES

  • ADA compliance

  • Traffic, pedestrian & bicycle signals

  • Accessible signals

  • Pedestrian crossings

  • Traffic calming

  • Bus stop design 

Safety and accessibility are critical transportation issues, especially for walkers and bikers. McMahon plans and designs walking and biking facilities so that they are comfortable, safe and accessible for users of all ages and abilities. As streets become safer for pedestrians and bicyclists through content-appropriate designs or implementation of traffic calming measures, they become safer for everyone, including motorists. 

Additionally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires specific treatments to promote access for all users.

Our team is well–versed in ADA requirements for pedestrian facilities, including signals, curb ramps and crossings. We implement these enhancements through corridor and intersection improvements, integrating with surrounding transit stops and stations.

SAFETY & ACCESS FOR ALL

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Check out these Great Trail Project Videos

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PROJECTS

ADDITIONAL WALK BIKE INFORMATION 

Read the Article by Natasha Manbeck
Designing for Multiple Community Types 

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WALK BIKE Brochure

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TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLANS

Trans Master Plans

RELATED SERVICES

  • Strategic transportation planning

  • Corridor plans

  • Implementation plans

  • Community planning

  • Public engagement

  • Online public engagement

McMahon has completed a variety of Transportation Plans that evaluate existing transportation systems in order to identify practical and sustainable solutions that meet the vision and objectives of the surrounding community. These transportation plans have been prepared for regional study areas, an entire municipality, key community corridors, downtown areas and business districts, and local neighborhoods. Further, McMahon recognizes the importance of developing comprehensive and effective public outreach processes during the master planning in order to achieve successful outcomes and plans that are embraced by the community. Our transportation master plans stand apart as they are not only built upon sound transportation planning principles, but draw upon our experience advancing projects through engineering, permitting and construction.

BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN SHOWCASE HIGHLIGHT 

PROJECTS

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MUNICIPAL MASTER & COMPREHENSIVE PLANS

Municipal Master

RELATED SERVICES

  • Assessment of existing transportation conditions

  • Development of multimodal transportation goals

  • Short- & long-range actions to implement goals

  • Preparation of transportation element of master plan/comprehensive plan

  • Stakeholder coordination & public outreach

McMahon has served as part of multi-disciplinary teams to prepare the transportation element of numerous master plans/ comprehensive plans. McMahon has been responsible for the compilation and assessment of existing data related to the transportation element of master plans/comprehensive plans, including multimodal transportation infrastructure, traffic growth trends, crash data and public transportation options. Coordination with local agencies, including municipalities, regional planning agencies, state departments of transportation, and transit authorities is key to getting buy-in and implementation of the plans. 

 

McMahon conducts interviews with municipal staff to ensure that various perspectives are considered, in conjunction with the public participation process. Additionally, McMahon assists with the development of baseline reports, goals and policies, and action plans that reflect the consensus of stakeholders. The team also prepares draft and final versions of each transportation element for the community.

PROJECTS

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Pubic Engagement

RELATED SERVICES

  • Facilitation of stakeholder & community meetings

  • Coordination with stakeholders, agency representatives, property owners & business owners

  • Renderings, videos & graphics

  • Presentation boards & slides

  • Websites & online surveys

Engaging stakeholders and members of the public early and often during the planning and design process can ensure that transportation improvements meet the community’s needs and vision. Comprehensive and inclusive outreach efforts help to engage all people in shaping transportation improvements, including users of all modes. Additionally, successful stakeholder and community involvement can help to maintain a project’s schedule and budget.

 

McMahon has extensive experience with guiding and facilitating a broad range of community involvement activities for transportation projects. McMahon utilizes a variety of methods and outlets to share project information, engage all members of the community, and listen to community concerns. McMahon also focuses on developing easy–to–read materials and graphics that convey information and educate the public using maps, photographic renderings and traffic simulation videos.

 

We have experience with synthesizing comments from various stakeholders to build consensus on project goals, critical issues, preferred alternatives and priority improvement plans. Through presentation boards and slides, newsletters,and websites, McMahon offers customized community engagement strategies based on the project type, phase and context.

PROJECTS

TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT

Transportation Demand Management

RELATED SERVICES

  • Parking inventory

  • Transit analysis

  • First-/last-mile connections

  • Transportation Demand Management plans

  • Stakeholder coordination

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is a critical component of reducing single occupancy vehicle trips to individual sites, as well as busy downtown areas. McMahon assists public and private clients in identifying strategies to increase transportation choices for residents, visitors and employees. Strategies may include offering incentives, such as a parking cash-out program to use alternative modes to driving, enhancing public transportation services, implementing flexible work hours, and making walking and biking facilities more comfortable.

PROJECTS

FUNDING & GRANTS

Funding & Grants

RELATED SERVICES

  • Funding plans & strategies

  • Grant applications

  • Cost estimates & implementation schedules

  • Economic impact analysis

  • Coordination with project partners & funding agencies

  • Grant management

McMahon is experienced with developing detailed and customized transportation and transit funding strategies and grant applications for municipalities, transit agencies and other government clients. We have identified opportunities to assemble a variety of funding sources to maximize and leverage available resources through the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration discretionary funding programs. We have also assisted with identifying alternative means for implementing transportation improvements, such as through routine maintenance or public-private partnerships. We are experienced with developing funding strategies and preparing grant applications for a broad range of transportation priority projects, including intersection improvements, bridges, transit expansions, streetscapes enhancements, trails, and safety or traffic calming projects. 

SHOWCASE PROJECT 

PA WalkWorks Funding for Active Transportation Plans

PROJECTS

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DOWNTOWN PLACEMAKING

Downtow Placemaking

RELATED SERVICES

  • Multimodal transportation planning

  • Conceptual design for downtown roadways

  • Preliminary intersection capacity analysis

  • Parking analysis

  • Wayfinding guidance

  • Public outreach & stakeholder coordination

  • Urban design and visualization

McMahon uses transportation as a placemaking tool for downtown areas to create cohesive destinations that are more economically productive, support town facility and infrastructure investments, and support a community’s civic and cultural identity. We aim to improve connectivity through providing a range of transportation choices — from local bike share programs to access to regional commuter rail systems. As part of our placemaking plans, we develop conceptual-level multimodal street configurations to inform the physical planning that takes into account the patterns of parcels, buildings, uses and owners for today and what could be in the future. We also evaluate access, circulation, infrastructure and parking to support new investments, and address safety, mobility, and character. Recommendations in a placemaking plan may include road diets to improve pedestrian safety and strengthen a sense of place; parking management and regulatory strategies; wayfinding suggestions; bus stop design considerations; curb cut consolidation and access management.

PROJECTS

URBAN DESIGN & VISUALIZATION

Urban Design

RELATED SERVICES

  • Infographics & conceptual diagrams

  • Visualization of roadway improvement design through aerial view & cross section renderings

  • Before and after photo-realistic & hand-drawn renderings

As part of our planning process, McMahon offers urban design and visualization services to help clients and members of the public understand how improved transportation facilities will be implemented on the ground and demonstrate how these improvements will impact public life.

Our urban design services focus on providing thoughtful, human-scale streetscape interventions that reflect the contextual needs and conditions present in our project’s area. McMahon uses its urban design services to show regional transportation networks and connections in addition to small-scale and localized design features that advance the larger network.

Our visualization services incorporate multiple techniques to maximize the impact our work can have for a community and its transportation facilities. Our services include data and concept visualization that allows municipalities to more easily interpret complex information and make informed decisions on how best to plan streetscapes and transportation networks. Our services also include aerial and cross-section representations of our concept designs that complement our engineering plans and make projects easier to visualize for clients and members of the public. Additionally, we offer before & after photo-realistic renderings that help envision how specific projects and transportation improvements will impact their surrounding environment.

PROJECTS

SHARED MOBILITY 

Shared Mobiity

RELATED SERVICES

  • Transit analysis

  • Demographic analysis

  • Economic analysis

  • Literature review

  • GIS mapping

  • Transit funding

  • Transportation Demand Management (TDM)

  • Public engagement

It is a challenge for many communities to provide public transit in a suburban environment that may house populations with specific transportation needs such as the elderly, a workforce in non-traditional jobs or a high concentration of employees in isolated business parks. McMahon works with communities to understand unmet transportation needs and evaluate feasible options for providing shared mobility within the context of a specific community. McMahon’s goal is to develop shared mobility solutions that enable a community to share resources with transit agencies, businesses and institutions to provide a sustainable option for expanding mobility.

PROJECTS

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