Trailnet Helps St. Louis Residents See Community in New Light

By Christian Johnson
 
Imagine a way to make drivers more cautious of their surroundings, a way to make streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, a way to promote physical activity in communities. Ideal, right? Turns out the ideal is a simple Livable or Complete Streets solution: traffic calming.  Just like the name implies, traffic calming is the act of making physical designs, such as narrowed roads and speed bumps, in hopes of slowing down cars and easing traffic congestion. These measures can not only make drivers more aware of their surroundings, and improve the safety of neighborhood streets and roads, but also make them more pleasant, too.

For one day in St. Louis, however, local residents didn’t have to imagine these changes; they lived it. The Healthy Eating Active Living Partnership, Trailnet, Saint Louis University students, and elected city officials teamed up with the residents of three Saint Louis communities for pop up demonstrations of traffic calming. Watch a short video of the pop-up demos in action. 

“The purpose of this project is really to help people in St. Louis understand what traffic calming is, and how we could redesign streets to be more welcoming of activity to get people out walking, biking, and enjoying public space,” said Trailnet Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Manager, Marielle Brown in the video.

Trailnet leaders worked with community residents of all ages on the temporary enhancement of neighborhood streets, helping fill streets with vibrantly colored tires, traffic cones, and a variety of plants in high traffic areas. On a mission to not only beautify these neighborhoods, but also narrow roads to help manage the speeds of drivers, and the demonstration aimed to reduce the flow of heavy traffic in these communities while showcasing the positive effects that traffic calming can have.

Community members responded positively to these traffic calming demos, realizing that in addition to improving street safety for children and all pedestrians, there were more options for physical activity, too.

While the demonstrations were only for one day, community members were able to see the possibilities and discuss potential next steps. Gateway Greening Garden Program Director Hannah Reinhart shared she hopes the demonstrations help open the minds of people to what could be possible exposing them to new urban design layouts that could lead to actual changes in their communities.

Is your town interested in bringing a traffic calming demo to a particular neighborhood or intersection? Contact Trailnet for more details.

Tourism up ahead!

A discussion with Chillicothe’s city administrator about Livable Streets

By Sarah Canavese

 

Courtesy: City of Chillicothe

Imagine walking down the sidewalks of a charming downtown area in Missouri. Around you are the brightly colored awnings of a locally owned businesses, and just up ahead, there’s a group of teenagers going into the ice cream shop. It’s summer, and hot, and now that you think of it, all this walking is making you hungry, too. You should go into the ice cream shop as well, but on your way there, you see a shoe store. It’s August, time for back to school, and your kids could use a new pair.

Can you imagine this scene unfolding? Ike Holland, Chillicothe city administrator can and he is working on creating the perfect place for tourism to bloom. One key to achieving his goal of vibrant tourism is through the Missouri Livable Streets project.

Holland spent eight years working in Colorado, giving him first-hand experience with how a town that thrives on tourism should look. “When I came to Missouri and I saw this Livable Streets program, I was glad because people don’t see the quality of life benefits or the economic benefits, unless they have experienced it. So it was a very easy sell, [it] wasn’t much of a sell for me,” Holland explains.

For Chillicothe, though, before Holland can share the benefits of creating livable streets, he has to generate the interest among residents and stakeholders.

“I know it works,” Holland said of building tourism through livable streets. “You have to take it in stride and understand that we are doing this in stages. I am confident and when it’s complete, each stage gains momentum because people start to understand what is going on. In Colorado, you are so dependent on tourism and we used to say, ‘We will get others to pay for our projects.’ So the tourists, they pay for the highways, the hot springs, the ski resorts. [Communities] don’t realize the people who live there don’t pay for it, it’s the tourism [that does].”

Part of the hesitance communities may experience when considering policies encouraging livable streets often is due to these concerns about cost. “For the street planning that was done 20 or 30 years ago,” said Holland, “the norm was to do away with the sidewalks and reduce cost as much as possible. Crosswalks were minimized to save money. Now we are having to go back and basically redo a lot of these main roads. It’s a shame that sidewalks went out of style.”

Continues Holland, “The funding for streets is provided by the sales tax here in the community and it hasn’t increased over the years, but the cost of materials and labor has. So every year, I get less for my dollar but still have to maintain the streets. It’s a tough choice for communities to make, but the community is behind the projects. We built a new hospital and we are going to include sidewalks as part of the project. We are also implementing some really nice streetlights to go along the sidewalks.”

It should come as no surprise then that any hesitance around passing a policy doesn’t stop Holland from feeling the excitement this project has brought on. “In the bigger scheme of things, yes it [may] cost money. But the bang for the buck is big.”

Holland emphasizes that making the changes now will benefit the community in the long-term. “In about ten to 15 years, 25 percent of the population is going to be over 65 [years old]. One of the things people over 65 like to do is walk. If you have a small or large town that encourages walking, and you can do it in a safe way, you will do it. That’s step one. The second step is tourism. All those things combined are reasons why we are looking at making Chillicothe a very livable community.”

To learn more visit Missouri Livable Streets.

Training for the Future

Courtesy: MoBroadBandNow.com

By Sarah Canavese

“Regional Training." To some, regional training might sound like a way to get out of the office and learn a new technique for their job. To others the terms conjure up meetings, where attendance is required and attendees watch hours of PowerPoint slides.

To David Cheek, transportation planner at Mark Twain RegionalCouncil of Governments, regional training means the eight counties he works with get to experience for the first time training offered by PedNet through Missouri Livable Streets. “I was just excited and pleased to be able to reach out to the area that we serve and being able to offer the training such as it was, to come of our more rural police departments,” he said. “That was gratifying.”

Based in Perry, Mo., Mark Twain Regional Council of Government (MTRCOG) is one of seven communities and/or organizations Missouri Livable Streets is assisting in active design training and education. The Council is governed by an executive board, which has two representatives from each county that it represents.  Their primary purpose is to set policies for the operation of the Council and the development of the region.

All eight counties the MTRCOG serves, Audrain, Marion, Monroe, Macon, Ralls, Randolph, Pike and Shelby were invited to participate in the first training session and will be involved going forward.

One of the novel and critical training programs offered by Missouri Livable Streets in collaboration with PedNet is law enforcement training. While educating the public and motorists about Livable Streets or active design elements and laws is critical, another key element is training police and law enforcement professional on these elements and laws, too.

“When you live in a rural community with only one police officer, I mean, they still have a lot of stuff to do, and probably getting training on how to deal with bicyclists is not at the top of their list,” Cheek said. However, Cheek agreed that as enforcers of local laws and policies, officers are natural stakeholders in the process.

MTRCOG’s training for law enforcement professionals was held in June for a small team of officers from the area. Officers learned the rules and regulations bicyclists need to follow, and other laws that pertain to bicycling. Cheek explained that most of the officers were from rural towns, and the training was an opportunity to share information about laws and regulations with which they might be less familiar.

Cheek shared, “I think that is where the best value came from for the officers; they probably hadn’t had this type of training, and it was definitely beneficial that it was POST certified.”
 

(POST stands for Peace Officer Standards and Training and all sworn officers must maintain these peace officer licenses. According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, all licensed peace officers and reserve officers must complete at least 48 hours continuing education to maintain their peace officer license.)

Interested in bringing a Missouri Livable Streets training to your community or group of law enforcement professionals? Learn how at: http://livablestreets.missouri.edu/attend/.

Get Your Bike On This May!

Each May communities across the country mark National Bike Month, a celebration of cycling and its many benefits sponsored by League of American Bicyclists. From Florissant to Columbia, to Kansas City to Springfield, communities across Missouri are gearing up their two-wheelers for a month full of festivities including Bike to Work Week Bike to Work Week (May 12-16) and Bike to Work Day (May 16).

While bicycling in Missouri has increased dramatically since 2000, Missouri ranks 30^th as a Bicycle Friendly State and only 7 Missouri communities are recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as Bicycle Friendly, meaning they provide safe, encouraging environments for cycling.

This leaves a lot of room for improvement but don’t let that jam your bike chain. The good news is with a strong presence of bike/ped enthusiasts and growing momentum of Missouri’s Livable Streets efforts, more communities are on their way to becoming not just bicycle friendly, but friendly for all forms of transportation and their users. For example, Ashland,Mo., along with 6 other Missouri communities were recently announced as recipients of Livable Streets trainings and technical assistance.

Livable improvements like bicycle lanes, smooth pavement, and shared-use trails can make a big difference by reducing traffic demands and creating more connected healthier communities whether you travel by bicycle, foot, or wheelchair.

Want your community to get livable and be more bicycle friendly? Learn about the ways you can help at http://livablestreets.missouri.edu/.

Get tools and ideas for celebrating Bike Month from the League of American Cyclists here then head on over to Facebook to follow our cycling celebrations and tell us how you’re celebrating Bike Month.  

Walk your way to health: Take part in National Walking Day

Today, April 2^nd,  is National Walking Day, a movement sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA) aimed at getting people up and moving throughout the day. The reason couldn’t be more important since one out of every two men and one in every three women are at risk for heart disease, which is still the No. 1 killer in the United States. Walking is a no cost, convenient, and low impact form of exercise and just 30 minutes a day can help reduce the risk of heart disease and other health issues such obesity, stroke and type-2 diabetes. Walking is also a great way to spend time with family and friends and increase people’s involvement in their community.

But did you know that about one in four Missourians do not spend any time being physically active? Unfortunately, for many people, it is difficult to take advantage of walking’s benefits because they live in communities where they do not have safe, easy access to places to walk and be physically active. The benefits of designing and building communities where people of all ages and abilities can get around easily and safely extend beyond improving citizen’s health and well-being. These changes can also improve the physical and economic development of communities. In a recent study of 23 Missouri communities with Livable or Complete Streets policies, community leaders reported increases in bicycling, walking, and trail system use; physical improvements to their community; and greater economic development.

Celebrate your reasons to walk today, and every day, with these tips from the American Heart Association, and learn more about creating walkable communities at http://livablestreets.missouri.edu/

Using the walkability audit as a policy tool: Spotlight on Unionville, Mo

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How walkable or bikeable is your neighborhood? Hear from community advocates in Unionville, Mo., who are conducting a walkability audit with residents to better raise the issues of policy change with local leaders.

Sincere thanks to Chrissy, Ericka and Jeanie for their time and insights!

Photovoice Missouri raises livability issues

What happens when you give dozens of teens and youth cameras and tell them to document their towns and everyday lives? Turns out quite a lot. From improving or constructing sidewalks in small rural towns where youth can safely exercise and play, to increasing access to healthy foods in their communities, many Missouri youth are concerned about improving their built environment.

Our friends at the Healthy Lifestyles Initiative, part of MU Extension, worked with the MU Health Communication Research Center to recruit students and teachers for Photovoice Missouri, a year-long effort aimed at giving young people simple education and advocacy tools to talk about the issues that matter most to them. The pictures students took and shared document their everyday lives, including both the positive health behaviors they saw, and the areas where they thought improvements could be made.

Recently, a group of students were chosen as having photographed the most compelling issues facing their towns and, along with their teachers and families, they were invited to Columbia for an awards ceremony where the winning student was announced. It was a moving ceremony and was featured in the MU Extension podcast.

While the concept of Photovoice has been around for decades, it’s exciting and eye-opening to see what fresh perspectives and ideas people bring forth. Among the photos submitted by the students from Dallas, Dent, Lafayette, Mercer, Ralls, and Shelby counties, as well as the City of St. Louis, many of them related to livability issues: access to sidewalks or bike lanes, crumbling infrastructure, safety issues around getting healthy. Some students are already working with their teachers to educate their community and civic leaders on the importance of healthy and active streets and neighborhoods.

Check out Photovoice Missouri and see what youth around our state have to say and show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photovoicemissouri/

Rural communities get livable: Spotlight on Warsaw, Mo

Missouri Livable Streets was pleased to learn about the great work going on in Warsaw, Missouri. While Warsaw is a community on the lake, many people are unaware of how much of a hidden gem it is for biking, walking and enjoying the outdoors. 

In this short video, learn how a handful of community advocates and leaders have been collaborating to make their town a more livable, vibrant community and tourist destination.

Sincere thanks to Irv, Mac, Melissa and Randy for their time and insights!

Rural Missouri on track to create more livable streets

Creating more vibrant streets and neighborhoods isn't a concern for just urban and suburban towns in Missouri. Located in northern Missouri, Unionville is a small town of approximately 2,000 residents, and local advocates are also concerned about health and wellness of residents. In this new video from Missouri Livable Streets, hear from local residents and their reasons why complete streets policies make sense for them.