Tag: DPH

Making Walking Connections in Blandford

Making Walking Connections in Blandford

WalkBoston, along with more than 10 people committed to making Blandford more walkable, conducted a masked, in-person walk audit in Blandford’s Village Center on Friday, April 30. Residents are interested in improved walking connections between key destinations in the village center – including the library, the Country Store, and Town Hall –  with Watson Park, the White Church, and the Town Common. Next steps include preparing a summary report which will be incorporated into the other planning activities in Blandford including the Blandford Resilient Master Plan and and Open Space and Recreation Plan.

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 Blandford is one of the partnering communities in this grant project.

Digging in on snow

Digging in on snow

By Wendy Landman/WalkBoston senior policy advisor

One thing stays true for Massachusetts: It snows. And 11 years after it was written, WalkBoston’s report on better sidewalk snow clearance, Keep It Clear: Recommendations for Sidewalk Snow and Ice Removal in Massachusetts, remains shockingly relevant (download at walkboston.org/snow). While some cities and towns have adopted a more proactive approach to better clear sidewalks, walking after a snowstorm is still a challenge statewide.

Whether it’s from individuals with disabilities or parents who push strollers, each year WalkBoston receives calls and emails from people across the state—especially older adults—asking how we can help improve the conditions of sidewalks, curb ramps, traffic islands and paths.

While we would love to see municipalities take full responsibility for sidewalk clearance, today’s budget realities make this an unlikely scenario. However, the actions described below could significantly improve winter walking conditions at a much more modest cost.

  • Require municipal sidewalk snow clearance plans that set priorities for both public and private clearance, (municipalities)
  • Clear key walking routes—sidewalks and curb ramps—that provide access to transit, schools, public buildings, and senior housing, (municipalities, MassDOT)
  • Prioritize enforcement of private sidewalk clearance by zones that reflect walking demand. For example, homeowners in low-density areas with low demand might be exempt from clearing their sidewalks, while businesses in shopping areas with high demand would be ticketed promptly if they fail to shovel. (municipalities)
  • Develop engineering design improvements for curb ramps, intersections and raised crosswalks that specifically address the need to reduce slush and run-off pooling at the base of curb ramps. (MassDOT)
  • Establish protocols for snow plow operators to reduce amounts of snow piled up on curb ramps. (MassDOT, municipalities)
  • Create and disseminate a well-funded, multi-year public campaign about the importance of sidewalk snow clearance to the safety, health and economic strength of Massachusetts. (WalkBoston with MassDOT, Mass Department of Public Health/MDPH, and Executive Office of Elder Affairs/EOEA)
  • Develop guidance and legal mechanisms to help create a robust set
    of volunteer and paid programs to recruit snow shoveling assistance for people who cannot do this work themselves. (MassDOT, DPH, EOEA, municipalities)

Massachusetts sits in a climate zone that is especially slushy—with many freeze and thaw days that make winter walking conditions particularly difficult. Better sidewalk snow clearance is a critical component of Governor Baker’s commitment to be an Age-Friendly state, to Boston’s GoBoston 2030 transportation plans, and to the quality of life and economic development goals of every community in the state. Together, let’s take action to keep our sidewalks clear this winter.

This article was featured in WalkBoston’s January/February 2020 newsletter.
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Check out our new report – Pedestrian Infrastructure: Strategies for improving pedestrian safety through low-cost traffic calming.” (Click for instructions to download PDF). 

Low cost fixes to calm traffic and enhance safety on municipal streets and state roads can be a great place to start, as they are likely to be adopted and completed sooner than more expensive projects, and can serve as catalysts for long-term change.

This report was prepared by WalkBoston for Mass in Motion, an initiative of the MA Department of Public Health.

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Weymouth: Making Safe Routes for Seniors

Weymouth: Making Safe Routes for Seniors

by Nicholas Bulens, Grant Writer & Researcher, Town of Weymouth

In the summer of 2014, WalkBoston partnered with the Town of Weymouth to open a conversation between municipal staff and older adults about creating a safer, more attractive walking environment. The Safe Routes for Seniors initiative was a true convergence of advocacy and policy, resulting in a set of design guidelines and program alternatives to better coordinate the town’s
capital planning process with greater walkability. The initiative has helped springboard Weymouth toward a healthier approach to community design.

Weymouth is a mature suburban community situated about 12 miles southeast of Boston. The town has a strong residential character with many attributes of a walkable environment. Weymouth has four village centers, each featuring a mix of land uses that helps create a sense of place for residents. It also has a diverse open space network interspersed among many settled neighborhoods. There is also a good mix of transit services, including commuter rail and bus, which help connect Weymouth’s people and places. However, in spite of these attributes, the town has grown increasingly dependent on the automobile for transportation in the last 50 years. Simultaneously, Weymouth’s population has aged and diversified to where almost one in every four residents is over age 60.

Recognizing a need to analyze the built environment from a healthy aging perspective, Weymouth received a grant from the Massachusetts Council on Aging, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health [MDPH], to conduct a senior pedestrian safety study. Municipal staff collected data on Weymouth’s housing, land use and pedestrian crashes. The data led the town to identify four areas of need where seniors could most benefit from improved walking conditions.

WalkBoston facilitated a public meeting between municipal staff and an audience of over 30 older adults. Residents raised important concerns about poorly maintained sidewalks, obstructed lines of sight and distressed crosswalks. WalkBoston then hit the streets with a diverse focus group of municipal staff, senior residents and local businesspeople. A wealth of observations were made, and ideas flowed freely between stakeholders.

Weymouth’s walkability investigation culminated in the publication of the Safe Routes for Seniors Design Guidelines and Planning Report. WalkBoston introduced municipal staff to new and innovative approaches to streetscape improvements, including “lighter quicker cheaper” placemaking, which could facilitate safer, more frequent foot traffic by older adults in the town’s target areas. Weymouth’s planning staff prepared the final report to summarize the initiative’s findings and recommend design guidelines for town planning moving forward.

The Safe Routes for Seniors initiative has already led Weymouth to take a number of steps toward enhancing walkability. For 2015, Weymouth’s Mayor Susan Kay has committed $150,000 to sidewalk improvements and indicated that she will budget up to $250,000 for the same purpose each year thereafter. Plans are also under way by municipal staff to develop a Complete Streets policy and apply for certification under the MassDOT’s new Complete Streets program. In addition, the town has received a technical assistance grant from the MDPH to develop a zoning action plan with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission [PVPC], a leader in the movement to design healthier communities. The PVPC will advise Weymouth on how to facilitate healthy eating and more physical activity in the community through changes to local zoning provisions, such as reduced parking requirements and site plan review.

This article was featured in our Summer 2015 newsletter. See the full newsletter & past editions here.

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MassDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program

MassDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program

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With MassDOT and the Massachusetts Dept of Public Health (DPH), WalkBoston and MassBike are helping develop and implement pedestrian and bicycle safety strategies aimed at achieving the state’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) goal of reducing fatalities and injuries among bicyclists and pedestrians by 20% in the next 5 years. 

The three major components of the strategy are:
1.     Enforcement
2.     Education/Awareness
3.     Preparation of communities for infrastructure improvements 

The pilot program is focused on 12 communities which were selected based on high rates of non-motorist crashes, high rates of walking and biking activity, and participation in the DPH Mass in Motion program (8 of the 12 communities selected are Mass in Motion communities).

The community-based efforts to increase walking and biking in Mass in Motion communities provides an excellent platform to support increased pedestrian and bicycle safety strategies, and then make effective infrastructure investments to make the built environment safer for those trips.

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