June 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 54

S A F E R O U T E S TO PA R K S

By working with state leaders,
the town was able to secure
$8 million toward a walkway
along a bridge that connects to
the park site and to many other
destinations.

Implementation and
Sustainability
After assessment, planning is
the next step in the action framework. Although each site devised
a park-site-specific plan, many
found the most valuable aspect
of this process to be coordinated
planning. Through coordinated
planning with partner coalition
members, such as Safe Routes to
School, trail groups, transportation
departments, and local and regional planning organizations, the pilot
sites were able to integrate solutions into ongoing projects.
For example, at BREC, the project managers initially had difficulty gaining buy-in from partners
and community members, in part
because of significant flooding
that occurred in 2016. Howev-

NEW BEDFORD PARKS, RECREATION AND BEACHES

New Bedford's experience was
consistent across many of the
sites. In Ypsilanti, partners were
surprised to hear from some residents that they don't visit the park
because they remember when there
was high crime there many years
ago. One person indicated that he
believed " unsavory " types hang
out at the basketball courts. So,
whether crime was historic, real or
perceived, it remains a huge barrier
to access and must be addressed in
the planning and implementation
phase of the process.
In addition, most of the sites
identified numerous physical improvements that were needed.
Walk audits were the best method
of identifying the specific improvements needed to create accessible

routes and an increased feeling of
personal safety. These included
improved visibility of street crossings with appropriate signage and
pavement markings, adding traffic
islands to mid-block crossings and
improved lighting.

Parks & Recreation

er, once they began coordinating
with their own Planning and Engineering Department, as well as
with the Louisiana Department
of Travel and Development, they
not only were able to reroute the
trail to connect to the park, but
they also gained support of their
department leadership, received
additional funds for the park and
have been hosting park cleanup
days in the surrounding area.
In Vigo County, Indiana, the Safe
Routes to Parks efforts included a
walk audit with the state's department of transportation and a state
senator that gained the attention of
local media and additional decision makers. By working with state
leaders, the town was able to secure
$8 million toward a walkway along
a bridge that connects to the park
site and to many other destinations.
This bridge project had been in the
works for more than 10 years, but
the pilot site team was able to get
the funding and expedite the process by involving leadership and
coordinating planning.
Finally, in Dayton, Ohio, improvements were included in the
overall park master plan, but they
also identified the need for a rapid-flashing beacon to help pedestrians get across a major boulevard.
This route happened to be along a
Safe Routes to School route, and
they were able to jointly apply for
funding. This success, as Dayton
says, " has become an agencywide
initiative to ensure that barriers are
removed to all parks in the system.
This program has allowed the need
to create safe routes to all MetroParks to become a priority and
A walk audit team surveys the routes
to a park from the surrounding neighborhood to identify assets and barriers
to park access and safety.

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June 2018 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2018 - Parks & Recreation