Walk audits with a climate focus on the way to Danvers, Melrose, Salem, Stoneham, and Wakefield
We’re happy to announce that WalkMassachusetts has been awarded a $75,000 Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). See the press release here. This is a huge win for our mission and a major step forward for pedestrian safety in the face of climate change. With this grant, we’re officially launching our Climate-Safe Walk Audit Initiative: Enhancing Pedestrian Resilience in a Rapidly Warming World.
What This Means for Massachusetts
We’ll be working directly with five communities—Danvers, Melrose, Salem, Stoneham, and Wakefield—to make walking not just safer, but also more resilient and “climate-ready.”
Alongside community members, our goal is to identify and address the challenges that a rapidly changing climate presents to vulnerable road users. Through walk audits, we’ll be working with them to help find short term actions that advance bigger climate resilience goals they’ve already identified. This could mean finding solutions to make crosswalks more visible during heavy rain, or creating more shaded pathways to help everyone walk, run, or roll comfortably during extreme heat.
Especially if you live, work, or play in one of those five communities, make sure you are on our email list so we can reach out and loop you in as we get the ball rolling in the coming months!