Rural Walking in Massachusetts: A Tool Kit for Municipalities
“Rural” in Massachusetts means places with relatively low population densities – over half of the state’s municipalities, according to the U.S. Census. Many of these communities already have sidewalks in their town centers, with rugged recreational trails in their conservation areas. In most places, residents have to drive to a place where they can walk.
WalkBoston, sponsored by the state Department of Public Health, has been challenged to explore the possibility of improving walking conditions for residents of the state’s rural or semi-rural areas. Interestingly, some communities have attempted to provide interconnected, town-wide networks of facilities that encourage residents to walk near their homes, whether to school, to work, to shop or to find places for exercise. Our case studies focused on pedestrian plans and facilities from 13 Massachusetts towns from Salisbury in the north, Lenox in the west, Dudley on the south and Barnstable on the Cape. In one of these towns, a pedestrian plan was being invented by local residents. In another two, roadside paths already formed enviable town-wide networks for walking to school or exercising. One town extended paths to its beach and another to a major tourist attraction. Providing sidewalks along all major roads was another’s goal, and implementing traffic calming techniques to reduce vehicle speeds was happening in two more towns. Linking recreational trails and roadside paths was a major goal of another town. This diversity of approaches was funded by local town allocations, developer agreements, public utility voluntary assistance and state agencies. View/Download a PDF of the report.
Case Studies: Amherst, Ashfield, Barnstable, Barre, Bolton, Boxborough, Dudley, Hadley, Lenox, Lincoln, Mashpee, Norwell, Salisbury
