Category: Walk Audit

Walk Audit in Worcester’s Green Hill Neighborhood

On Saturday November 2nd, WalkBoston conducted a walk audit along Lincoln Street in Worcester with the Green Hill Neighborhood Association and WalkBike Worcester. The Green Hill Neighborhood Association was awarded a Transportation Justice grant from Transportation for Massachusetts to “reimagine” Lincoln Street from Brittan Square to the Nativity School. Walk audit participants included residents of the Green Hill neighborhood, members of WalkBike Worcester, Worcester Division of Public Health – Mass in Motion staff, Central Mass Regional Planning Commission, and students from WPI. Following three recent pedestrian fatalities in the neighborhood, Green Hill residents have been organizing to make Lincoln Street a safe place to walk. The Green Hill neighborhood is a diverse, vibrant community with a 480 acre public park and many local businesses along Lincoln Street. WalkBoston was excited to conduct this walk audit to support the residents’ efforts to improve the walkability of their neighborhood.

For more information follow the links below:
T4MA Transportation Justice
WalkBike Worcester
Telegram & Gazette news article about the walk audit

Walking around the Woburn Common

WalkBoston participated in a MassDOT Road Safety Audit yesterday around the Woburn Common. Few pedestrians venture to the beautiful common due to the long crossing distances, complicated vehicular turning movements, and unpredictable driver behavior. Drivers, focused on maneuvering through multiple lanes of traffic, often neglect to check the crosswalks for people walking before accelerating into their lane. The group talked about short-, mid-, and long-term improvements to make the area safer for all road users. Plans are in the works to totally rethink the way people move around the common.

Route 114 in Salem – Painted roundabouts at work!

We visited Salem to scout out WalkBoston’s next walk audit route and were thrilled to see big changes along a previous walk audit route. Drivers used to use a “barge and block” strategy to enter the Route 114 (Summer Street/Norman Street) and Chestnut Street intersection. Now, a painted traffic circle regularizes drivers’ movements and provides crosswalks, flex posts and signage for people walking between the historic district and downtown. WalkBoston would love to hear how the new design is making all road users safer! Check out our 2014 walk audit report for the recommendations proposed for this intersection.

Egremont Walk Audit – Age-Friendly Walking

On Friday, August 23, 2019, WalkBoston conducted a walk audit in Egremont, MA along State Route 23/41, which serves as the Main Street of the South Egremont Village Center. MassDOT and members of the town are currently in the planning phase for a redesign of SR 23/41 to make the village center safer for all modes of transportation, including walking and biking. This walk audit was completed as part of WalkBoston’s Age-Friendly Walking initiative, which is a three year, statewide initiative to improve walking conditions in Massachusetts for people of all ages through policy implementation and built environment change.

Beachmont Neighborhood – Endicott/Atlantic Intersection – Revere

The Beachmont Improvement Committee (BIC) and City of Revere Staff identified the Endicott Avenue/Atlantic Avenue intersection as a project in need of pedestrian safety improvements. The City would like to include this intersection as a priority project on their Complete Streets Prioritization Plan. Most of the roadways in the immediate area lack striping. Neither travel lanes nor parking spaces are marked, giving the roadways the illusion that they are wider than they actually are.

Atlantic Avenue is a two-way roadway north of the Atlantic/Endicott intersection and one-way (northbound) south of the intersection. Endicott Avenue is part of a two month-long pilot study testing a one-way traffic pattern on Endicott between Bellingham Avenue/Bradstreet Avenue and Atlantic Avenue.

Read the full report here:

WalkBoston-BeachmontEndicottAudit-Revere