A private company may soon study traffic and parking in downtown Troy to see how both can be improved.

Last week, a task force that included city officials and downtown merchants met with representatives of the South Central Alabama Development Commission and Skipper Consulting to begin work on the Downtown Troy Transportation Plan.

Jamie Taylor, owner of Sips on the Square in downtown Troy and member of the task force, said he hopes to see an increase in foot and bike traffic and influx in actual tourist traffic to the Square after this plan is completed.

“As Skipper makes their findings available I hope we can focus on the problem areas and work to improve where needed,” Taylor said “With the diversity of the committee as well as having objective insight from Skipper, I would hope a goal for our needs could be set and a comprehensive plan made to meet that plan.”

Skipper Consulting will draft the plan, and potential components include an inventory of the street network within the downtown study area, conditions analysis, parking and occupancy studies, and bicycle and pedestrian plan that will link downtown with Troy University.

City of Troy Planning and Zoning Administrator Melissa Sanders said this study is part of the Downtown Troy Transportation Plan, which will be used in creating the transportation portion of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, for which the city has made a grant application with Alabama’s Community Development Block Grant program.

“Even if the Downtown Revitalization Plan is not funded through CDBG, this Downtown Transportation Plan will still be a strong asset to the development of downtown,” Sanders said. “It will help determine the transportation needs of our wonderful historic downtown, and will be a guide to future improvements. This Downtown Transportation Plan could also give the City a competitive advantage to apply for grants to supplement the cost of the needed improvements.”

Skipper Consulting will meet again with the taskforce in within a few weeks.