Walk Audit – Page 4 – WalkMassachusetts

Improving Walking Conditions in Chesterfield

By WalkBoston | October 25, 2021

Image of Chesterfield's Town Center, a white 2-story building, with a lawn and concrete sidewalk in front and steps leading to the building. On the other side of the sidewalk, a blue minivan waits at a T-intersection to cross onto the 2-lane road. — Chesterfield Town Center was an important point along the walk audit, as participants were eager to find ways to reduce speeds here.

WalkBoston, along with a group of about 9 participants including residents, Select Board members, Town Highway staff, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Chesterfield’s MassDOT District, conducted an in-person walk audit along Chesterfield’s Main Road through the Town Center, on Thursday, September 23rd. This walk audit was preceded by a virtual Ped101 session with a group of 11 residents.

Residents in Chesterfield, are interested in improved walking connections around the Town Center, including more pedestrian visibility at crossings on Main Road, reducing speeds in the Town Center, and considering extending the sidewalk to the Chesterfield General Store. Residents are also eager for more age-friendly walking infrastructure, particularly in Russel Memorial Park, where seating options for those looking for a spot to rest or place to sit with friends and neighbors are few and far between or inaccessible. WalkBoston’s forthcoming summary report of the walk audit process in Chesterfield will offer recommendations to the Town for improvements and funding opportunities that will help support and encourage walking for those of all ages and abilities in Chesterfield.

The Hilltown CDC, together with Healthy Hampshire and WalkBoston, are leading a 5-year grant project to promote Age-Friendly Walkability in the Hilltowns Village Centers, funded by the Dept. of Public Health’s Healthy Aging Fund. 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 Chesterfield is one of the partnering communities in this grant project.

A group of people stand at a mid-block crossing with pedestrian signage and discuss conditions. — Participants in the Chesterfield walk audit stop at a crosswalk to discuss safety.

Upper Hill Neighborhood Walk Audit Springfield

By WalkBoston | August 12, 2021

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.

Read the full report here.

Hybrid virtual and in-person walk audits expand engagement opportunities in Haverhill

By WalkMassachusetts | July 16, 2021

As pandemic restrictions ease and we resume in-person activities, WalkBoston is bringing back our traditional in-person group walk audits while keeping many of the new tools we’ve developed over the last year.

Haverhill was the first of our Gateway Cities walk audits to benefit from this hybrid approach. Starting in late May, the hybrid walk audit gave participants the option to walk through Downtown Haverhill with us in a group or – using the self-guided walk audit process developed for pandemic walk audits – to walk on their own at a time that worked better for their schedule. Hybrid walk audits like this one can help us make the process more accessible to a broader range of participants.

Haverhill residents discuss lighting conditions under the Winter Street bridge during the in-person group walk of Downtown Haverhill.

The flexibility of the hybrid model also created an opportunity for the Haverhill walk audit to include an additional virtual element — a bilingual focus group organized with Haverhill’s Latino Coalition to ensure fuller representation of the community in this project. The focus group added 8 more residents’ voices to the walk audit and gave us new insight into how residents use and would like to change Section 2 of the walking route.

The Downtown Haverhill walk audit illustrates how the larger buffet of participation options we’ve developed over the past year have led to more inclusive and robust community engagement. Have an idea for other ways we can include people in the walk audit process? Let us know!

Downtown Haverhill Virtual Walk Audit

By WalkBoston | June 17, 2021

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.

Read the full report here.

Blandford Village Center Walk Audit

By WalkBoston | June 17, 2021

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.

Read the full report here.