Posted March 21, 2025 in Weblog
The U.S. Division of Transportation, below Secretary Sean Duffy, has ordered a overview of all discretionary grants for inexperienced infrastructure, bike lanes, and tasks that enhance circumstances for communities which were unfairly marginalized and uncared for, probably slashing funding for vital security enhancements throughout the nation. This resolution threatens years of progress in making streets safer for individuals strolling, biking, and utilizing public transit.
However whereas the federal authorities backtracks, communities aren’t ready round. Native and state leaders proceed investing in walkability, proving that the demand for safer, extra accessible streets isn’t going away. Whether or not by native funding, state grants, or voter-approved measures, cities and cities are taking motion to guard their residents and prioritize mobility past vehicles.
Listed here are a few of the newest walkability wins occurring proper now, as a result of secure streets aren’t up for debate!
Ligonier Township has acquired a $587,000 grant from Pennsylvania’s Multimodal Transportation Fund to assemble sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge, enhancing pedestrian security and infrastructure. State Rep. Leslie Rossi emphasised the significance of such investments in creating safer, extra accessible communities. The funding, administered by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, goals to enhance transportation security, increase financial growth, and improve residents’ high quality of life, guaranteeing Ligonier Township stays vibrant and well-connected.
Knoxville is advancing its Imaginative and prescient Zero initiative, aiming to eradicate visitors fatalities by 2040, with a number of security tasks underway or deliberate for 2025. Accomplished tasks embrace security enhancements at Sutherland Avenue and Tobler Lane, the place a pupil was hit, and enhancements on Chapman Freeway with bike lanes and pedestrian paths. Future tasks embrace curb cuts, guardrail replacements, rumble strips, and the Sevier Avenue roundabout. Design-stage tasks just like the Burlington streetscape and Magnolia Avenue upgrades purpose to enhance pedestrian and bicycle owner security citywide.
The Streets Division is enhancing pedestrian security on Chestnut Road in West Philadelphia by putting in concrete pedestrian refuge islands at a number of intersections from forty third to 62nd Streets. These raised medians substitute plastic delineator posts, cut back crossing distances and supply secure staging areas for pedestrians on vast roadways. Building has begun and is predicted to complete by fall, enhancing security in bicycle lane buffer areas.
Santa Barbara County has allotted $7.2 million to enhance bike and pedestrian infrastructure in Isla Vista as a part of its Lively Transportation Plan (ATP). The undertaking, funded by California’s Lively Transportation Program, contains including bike boulevards, protected bike lanes, curb extensions, pedestrian crossing lights, and sidewalks. Geared toward enhancing security and comfort for cyclists and pedestrians, the plan focuses on east-west corridors, with development set to start in 2028.
Charlotte’s Imaginative and prescient Zero initiative is taking form with a concentrate on lowering traffic-related deaths and enhancing security. A $400 million transportation bond, accepted by voters in November, allocates $20 million to Imaginative and prescient Zero, funding tasks like enhanced streetlights, pedestrian crossings, and Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons. The initiative targets high-need areas based mostly on information, aiming to deal with rising pedestrian fatalities, which elevated by 77% between 2010 and 2022. Key tasks embrace including streetlights to East W.T. Harris Boulevard and putting in over 50 new crosswalks, with plans to boost visibility and connectivity citywide.
To atone for earlier installments of Walkability Wins, go to our weblog. Have a win? Ship it to us: social@americawalks.org.
