It’s the helpful concept with the funny name.  The city of Sedona has launched the online tool Wikimapping to collect ideas for walking and biking improvements. 

The tool features a map of Sedona in which you can draw routes you’d like to have built or would like improved; mark favorites, suggest great locations; and mark locations you feel are problematic. 

Once you mark your routes, you can add comments, or agree or disagree with others’ input. The feedback provided on the wikimap will be used to inform a walking and biking planning effort currently underway, which will ultimately result in a master plan to outline and prioritize future improvements. 

“We hope residents will use this tool to share their wish lists of improvements to make walking and biking in our city a better, safer experience,” Senior Planner Cynthia Lovely said. “Through the Community Plan and the National Citizen Survey we heard from the community that improved walking and biking is a top priority. 

“This master plan will outline where the improve­ments should be made and which projects should be completed first.” 

Wikimapping is just one way the city is getting feedback, Sedona Citizen Engagement Coordinator Lauren Browne said. 

Leading up to the launch of Wikimapping, the city formed a work group to get detailed input from resdients. After meeting for six months with this group, she said it was time to launch Wikimapping to get community-wide input. Then, they’ll be meeting with focus groups to get more specific input from citizens and groups, and will eventually plan public meetings once a draft of the master plan is created. 

Bicycle and pedestrian improvements are one of the city’s Transportation Master Plan strategies. This particular bike/walk planning process — labeled Get Outside or GO Sedona — will create a comprehen­sive, detailed road map informed by contributions from Sedona’s walking and biking enthusiasts. 

“We thought is was a really neat way for people to have the ability to tell the city where they wished for walking and biking improvements,” Browne said in terms of why the city chose Wikimapping. “It also allows people to agree or disagree with others’ suggestions, which is a good way for us to gauge if the idea is supported or not.” 

This effort has a multifaceted public input approach that includes: 

• A GO Sedona citizen work group that will serve as an advisory board for development of the walking and biking master plan. 
• The online Wikimapping tool to get broad-based input from residents. 
• Focus group meetings with community groups. 
• Public meeting workshops with residents. 

“Many people who live in Sedona enjoy getting outside — whether they are walking to the grocery store, riding their bike to school, or just out for a stroll,” Browne said. “And it’s obvious improving walkability and bikeability is a priority to this community.” 

Once the data is collected, Browne said they will be using the information as part of their GO Sedona Master Plan. 

“We hope to see where residents wish there was a sidewalk, a bike lane, a shared use path or a connec­tion into the forest,” she said. “We also hope to get a better understanding of which improvements are priorities. These priorities will in turn inform the walking and biking improvements made by our Public Works Department.” 

The map is open for input until Saturday, Aug. 10, by visiting sedonaaz.gov/wikimapping. 

To learn more about the walking and biking master plan or to submit general comments, visit sedonaaz.gov/go or contact Lovely at 203-5035 or clovely@sedonaaz.gov.