On June 10, 2021, WalkBoston and Way Finders conducted a walk assessment with Springfield community members as part of the Mass in Motion grant program in the Upper Hill neighborhood. The goal of the walk audit was to identify areas of improvement in the built environment, with special focus on ADA compliance issues. Residents voiced concerns about making Upper Hill a safer, more welcoming neighborhood for all people, especially for the elderly, children, and people with mobility issues.
On May 27 and June 17, 2021, WalkBoston and MassINC conducted a virtual walk assessment with community members in the downtown Haverhill area as part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Mass in Motion grant program, with support from the Solomon Foundation. The two main goals of the Gateway Cities walk audit project are to effect change at the local level to work towards safer, more enjoyable streets and to inform state policy and legislation to prioritize budgetary investment in Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth.
On April 30, 2021, WalkBoston and Blandford community members conducted a walk assessment of the village center area. The Hilltowns CDC, together with Healthy Hampshire and WalkBoston, are leading a 5-year grant project to promote Age-Friendly Walkability in the Hilltowns Village Centers. In partnership with community residents and leaders, the team will be conducting a series of walk audits in partnering Hilltowns villages. The goal of these walk audits is to identify infrastructure improvements and policy changes to make village-center walking safe and enjoyable for people of all ages in the Hilltowns. The town of Blandford is one of the partnering communities in this grant project.
Since September 2020, WalkBoston has conducted a series of walk audits in Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth as part of our “Gateway Cities: Social Infrastructure and Walkability” project in partnership with MassINC and with support from the Solomon Foundation. We’re hosting walk audits in five Gateway Cities, in the area around each city’s downtown commuter rail station, in order to advance better connections to transit-oriented development (TOD) zones and public amenities in these communities.
WalkBoston and MassINC created interactive maps for participants in each community, noting the walking route, and highlighting the sites of pedestrian-involved crashes, social/gathering spaces, and the vast amount of the study area occupied by parking infrastructure. Click here to go to the interactive Google map.
This project not only assesses the neighborhoods’ walking conditions but also looks at the availability of spaces that foster gathering and social connection, such as parks, plazas, community centers, and cafes. Through virtual discussions, as well as sharing written and visual observations, we’re working with residents, municipal staff, and other community members to identify assets and opportunities, and develop program, infrastructure, and policy recommendations based on participants’ visions for the area. In addition to effecting change at the local level, WalkBoston and MassINC will produce policy papers based on the findings from these walk audits to inform state policy and budgetary investment in Gateway Cities.
So far, we’ve completedvirtual walk audits in three cities as part of this project:Springfield, Fitchburg, andBrockton. Over the past year, the desire to live in a community with comfortable walking paths, open space, and street activity has dramatically increased as people spent more time at home and in their neighborhoods. The walk audits we’ve already completed have demonstrated that there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm to create more walkable, vibrant public spaces in our partner communities. In Fitchburg, participants are forming a bike/ped committee to advance the walk audit’s findings. In Brockton, residents looking for ways to get more involved in decision-making in their community used the walk audit to connect with municipal staff and each other and learn about joining committees, boards, and task forces.
Next, we’re kicking off our Haverhill walk audit tonight, Thursday, May 27th. This will be the first walk audit in the Gateway Cities series to include an in-person group walk option – we’re excited to get back to walking together again!
A recent visit to Springfield revealed significant progress on two major pedestrian safety projects in two different Springfield neighborhoods.
Completed in September 2020, the Six Corners Roundabout was years in the making. WalkBoston learned about it back in 2013 when conducting a walk audit at the Elias Brookings Elementary School and the Maple High – Six Corners neighborhood. The project provides protected pedestrian crossings where there once were none. It slows traffic down and provides a connected sidewalk network for residents and kids walking to school.
Begun in August 2020, the North End Pedestrian Underpass Project will provide a safe connection for people walking in the Brightwood neighborhood. No longer will residents have to walk along highway ramps or cut across railroad tracks to get from Plainfield Street to Birnie Avenue. WalkBoston conducted two walk audits in the Brightwood neighborhood, including at the German Gerena Community School, that identified this connection as a pedestrian safety hazard.
