Woonsocket Walks! Participate in the development of a City Wide Pedestrian Walking Plan or get ideas for your community.
Woonsocket Walks -- A City on the Move is a coordinated community-wide effort to make Woonsocket a more walkable city and a healthier, safer and more prosperous community. Woonsocket Walks is being led by YWCA Northern Rhode Island in partnership with Rhode Island Department of Health and Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Woonsocket Walks has focused on building relationships with traditional and non-traditional partners to provide feedback about the enablers of and barriers to walkability in Woonsocket. An Advisory Group composed of government representatives, community organizations, public safety officials, environmental organizations, advocacy groups, senior citizens, health care centers, business leaders, community members and decisionmakers was formed to provide feedback on the city's walkability. In addition, Woonsocket residents are being asked to participate in the initiative by providing comments. All of the input is being captured in a report that will be shared with local decisionmakers to be used to strengthen the city's environment.
"Research shows that improved walkability enhances the health, safety, and economic development of a community," says Meghan Grady, chief operating officer of YWCA Northern Rhode Island. "There are a number of walking groups that have existed for quite some time as well as some new groups forming. People are taking to the streets to improve their health, save money, and for recreation. We are hoping to improve individual walking experiences by ensuring that there are safe and accessible places for people to walk, and that places are defined and maintained by the community."
A 2010 Community Health Assessment of one neighborhood in Woonsocket -- Constitution Hill -- highlighted some of the concerns that more walkable communities can address. This survey of the 20-block neighborhood by Public Health Institute in cooperation with Rhode Island Department of Health and YWCA Northern Rhode Island asked randomly selected adults 18 and older living in the neighborhood about their health, their health behaviors, specific diseases they may have, and how their neighborhood supports healthy living:
* More than three-quarters were characterized by Body Mass Index as overweight (44%) or obese (32%).
* Fifty-four percent reported not getting the recommended minutes of physical activity.
* One out of three adults felt that the neighborhood was not safe from traffic (31 percent) or crime (39 percent) in order to walk or ride a bike.
Part of what the City of Woonsocket has already done is adopt a Complete Streets resolution in June 2011. As the resolution states, "encouraging non-motorized transportation provides residents mobility options, reduces transportation costs, enhances community connections, improves public health, advances environmental stewardship, reduces fuel consumption and maximizes the use of roadway infrastructure."
What do Complete Streets look like? In short, streets designed to reclaim their function as vibrant public spaces rather than the corridors for automobile traffic and parking that they have become.
Close your eyes and picture:
* Streets that are as safe for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders as they are for cars and trucks.
* Fewer but better designed crosswalks.
* Tree-lined streets with narrower lanes to calm traffic.
* Safe routes for kids to get to schools.
* Comprehensive bike lanes connecting the city.
* Inviting sidewalks where businesses can sell their wares.
* Bus shelters that actually provide shelter.
A shout goes out to Woonsocket for actively pursuing funding for Safe Routes to School improvements. Two elementary schools (Kevin K. Coleman and Fifth Avenue) and Woonsocket Middle School, in cooperation with Connecting for Children and Families, were awarded funding in 2007. In the 2010 round of awards, Citizens Memorial Elementary and Governor Aram J. Pothier Elementary were approved for sidewalks, signage, bike racks, and various educational and encouragement activities. Citizens Memorial and Governor Aram J. Pothier Elementary Schools were joined by Viola M. Berard School in participating in International Walk to School Day on October 5, 2011.
If you live or work in Woonsocket and want to review the draft City Wide Pedestrian Walking Plan, please contact YWCA Northern Rhode Island before November 15. Call Meghan Grady at (401) 769-7450 or e-mail meghan@ywcanri.org. YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
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About the Coalition for Transportation Choices
The Coalition for Transportation Choices (CTC) calls for a 21st century transportation system that enhances our economy and provides all Rhode Islanders with healthy transportation choices.
Rhode Island's 21st century transportation system must provide all people - employees, tourists, youth, elderly, able and disabled - with safe and dependable access to their community's opportunities for work, education, services, and recreation. The system should be considerably less dependent on cars and fossil fuels as well as efficient, effective and easy to use. It should minimize impacts to land, water and air and improve the health and well-being of all Rhode Islanders. Such a system should be sustained with predictable and consistent funding for operation and future growth.
CTC's work is supported
by the Rhode Island Foundation, The Prospect Hill Foundation and Third
Sector New England's Capacity Building Fund
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Photo: silveryyn, Creative Commons
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Coalition For Transportation Choices Member Groups
*AARP
*Amalgamated Transit Union
*American Lung Association in RI
* Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living
* Aquidneck Island Planning Commission
* Audubon Society of Rhode Island
* Blackstone Valley Partnership
* Blackstone Valley Tourism Council
* Blueways Alliance
* Brown emPower
* Childhood Lead Action Project
* City-State, the Urban Design Lab at RISD
* Clean Water Action
* Conservation Law Foundation
* Cornish Associates
* DOT Watch
* East Coast Greenway Alliance
* Ecolect
* Environment Council of Rhode Island
* Environmental Justice League of RI
* Farm Fresh Rhode Island
* Goodwill Industries
* Grow Smart RI
* Head of the Bay Gateway
* LISC-RI
* Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
* Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
* Pawtucket Foundation
* Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau
* The Providential Gardener
* Recycle-A-Bike
* RI Association of Railroad Passengers
* Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition
* RICOSH
* RI Consulting Engineers (RICE)
* RI Interfaith Power and Light
* RI Land Trust Council
* RI State Rehabilitation Council
* Rhode Island Student Climate Coalition
* Save The Bay
* SEIU, District 1199
* Sierra Club
* U.S. Open Cycling
* Working Rhode Island
* Youth in Action |
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