Smart pavement is a system of modular slabs of roadway embedded with integrated sensors and other devices that collect and transmit traffic data and other information as well as control centers for that information.
Smart pavement also can be equipped to provide communications services such as wireless internet and 5G telecommunications as well as the ability to charge electric vehicles and to operate self-driving vehicles.
A memorandum of understanding with Integrated Roadways Co., the company that made a proposal to Joplin city officials June 21 for future smart pavement installations, will permit city staff to work with the company to develop a smart pavement program for city streets and sets out the needed contracts and licenses that are to be negotiated to proceed.
Representatives of Integrated Roadways, located in Kansas City, have been talking to numerous cities about the capabilities of smart pavement, the council was told at that meeting. The company offers ways for governments to deal with technologic advancements that are coming for streets and highways as well as afford improvements to streets, according to the presentation.
The company's first project has been done on Brighton Boulevard, where there is commercial and industrial traffic that connects with Interstate 70 in downtown Denver, Colorado, working with the city, county and the state's transportation department as part of an innovation program to develop new technology for transportation.
After the Denver project, the company worked with the city of Lenexa, Kansas, to develop applications for some high-traffic intersections there.
The council was told that the company builds its street systems to local specifications. The agreement that the council will consider does not obligate the city to any expenditures, according to a staff report.
The council also will consider an agreement with Bird Rides Inc. for a one-year pilot project to provide electric rental scooters in the downtown area. The city will not pay anything; the costs for using the scooters is paid by customers. The city will be paid a share of the revenue generated by rentals to include a $2,500 lump-sum payment and 15 cents per ride.
The company plans to provide up to 150 scooters for short-trip use within a designated area. The scooters will be used on the streets and are not to be used on sidewalks or in parks.
Other business
In other business, the council will hold public hearings on two zoning requests.
One of the requests, a special-use permit for 3001 Sunset Drive for short-term rentals of a basement living area, has generated some neighborhood opposition, according to minutes of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The owner of the house, Lauren Peterson, has been operating an Airbnb rental for short-term guests for about three years. The house is three stories with a basement that has bedrooms. The house is in the Sunset Ridge neighborhood, where there is a homeowners association. That association has voted against allowing a bed-and-breakfast operation, though the commission was told the association contract prohibits commercial uses of the residential properties but does not specifically mention overnight room rentals, according to the commission minutes.
The commission voted to recommend that the homeowner's request be approved.
A former council member who is a resident of the neighborhood, Dan McCreary, is listed on the meeting agenda as a resident who has requested to speak about short-term rentals.
A public hearing also is scheduled for property located at the end of West Par Lane to change zoning from single-family residential to four-family residential for construction of townhouses. The proposal has generated opposition from several homeowners in the area of Twin Hills Drive.
After a recent hearing by the Planning and Zoning Commission, the commission voted to recommend denial of the request.
© 2021 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
