Author: WalkBoston

Egremont Walk Audit – Age-Friendly Walking

Egremont Walk Audit – Age-Friendly Walking

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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

Beachmont Neighborhood – Endicott/Atlantic Intersection – Revere

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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

Lowell – Drum Hill Walk Audit

Lowell – Drum Hill Walk Audit

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On Friday, July 19, 2019, WalkBoston conducted a walk audit starting at the Greater Health Alliance office on Technology Drive in Lowell, MA and continued down Drum Hill Road/Westford Street to the intersection at the entrance of the Walmart retail plaza in Chelmsford, MA. This walk audit was completed through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Mass in Motion program, which provides grant funding and technical assistance to help communities eat better and be more active.

Read the full report here:

WalkBoston-DrumHillWalkAuditReport-Lowell

Complete streets in Belmont

Complete streets in Belmont

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Six members of WalkBoston’s staff evaluated over 35 locations in Belmont last Wednesday morning as the Town prepares its Complete Streets Prioritization Plan project list. We were asked to review the list to be sure that the needs of people walking were well represented among the projects. We quickly realized we didn’t just need to accommodate people walking along Bright Road! Stay tuned for our final recommendations.

Looking for a place to cross in Lowell

Looking for a place to cross in Lowell

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At the Lowell/Chelmsford line, a group of 15 of us walked for more than 1/4 mile to cross Westford Street. As part of WalkBoston’s Mass in Motion technical assistance, we conducted a walk audit with members of the Greater Lowell Health Alliance’s Healthy Eating and Active Living Task Force, Lowell city staff, and other concerned residents in Lowell’s Drum Hill neighborhood.

“It’s very threatening. I certainly wouldn’t choose to go for a stroll along Westford Street,” said one walk audit participant. Traffic noise and narrow, disconnected sidewalks make people walking feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Residents in nearby apartment buildings and employees in office buildings along Technology Drive cannot safely walk to the shops and restaurants across Westford Street. Stay tuned for WalkBoston’s recommendations on how to make this auto-dominated environment safer and more welcoming to people walking.