Image: WalkBoston staff leading a Ped101 presentation to members of the Caminatas Verdes y Caminatas Seguras group.

On Thursday, August 4th, WalkBoston led an in-person Ped101 presentation for East Boston residents. The training was done in collaboration with GreenRoots, an environmental justice organization based out of Chelsea and East Boston, and the Caminatas Verdes y Caminatas Seguras walking group.

The program aims to improve safe walking access to East Boston’s parks and open spaces. The goal of the Ped101 training was to educate community members on the fundamentals of walkability and effective walking infrastructure, and give community members the vocabulary to advocate for infrastructure improvements. The presentation was conducted in both English and Spanish. WalkBoston offered an interpreter who translated the presentation in real-time using GreenRoots equipment. 

East Boston community members are passionate about improving their neighborhood’s walking infrastructure, especially around parks and schools. Over 20 community members attended the Ped101 presentation. At the end of the training, community members discussed how walkability solutions from the presentation could be used in their own community. They largely focused on fading sidewalks, lack of daylighting and curb extensions, poor snow removal, insufficient walking signals, and the failure of new developments to replace walking infrastructure damaged during construction. 

After the discussion, residents participated in a mapping activity in which they marked areas of East Boston that they felt were particularly dangerous for pedestrians. WalkBoston and GreenRoots will also communicate resident concerns directly to the City of Boston, both through a current conditions report and a meeting with city representatives.