WALK AND BIKE WILTON PROJECT

The Covid 19 virus has taught us many things. It made us all stop, think, and see things in a new light. We, as a community, want to refocus our energies on what matters most. Recent events have forced us to not only stay home more but spend more time in our own community. We have been given the opportunity to slow down. Some of us are working from home and loving it and not going back to the antiquated lifestyle pre-pandemic.

Having gone through all of this, the talk became loud and clear in our community, “why can’t we walk our children safely to Gavin Park? Why can’t we walk our
children to their schools (Dorothy Nolan & Maple Avenue Middle School?” “Why can’t we walk safely to the Post Office, the bank, or CVS?” Where do the residents of the Town of Wilton get their sense of community? WHERE ARE THE CONNECTIONS TO THESE PLACES THAT OTHER TOWNS ENJOY? Wilton can and needs to do better.

Residents of Wilton are proposing to bring multi-use trails to Wilton as expressed in Wilton’s own OSRPP for Pathways inclusion in the Town.
Phase 1 – on Jones Road extending from the Saratoga Springs line to Jodi Lane and on Carr Road.
Phase 2 – On Northern Pines Road beginning at Lonesome Pines Trail extending to Carr Road

The primary focus first being safe neighborhood accessibility to Gavin Park,
Dorothy Nolan and Maple Avenue Middle School and secondly into the City of
Saratoga Springs.

Multi-use trails play a vital role in community life. As a way for pedestrian
movement and access, they enhance connectivity and promote walking. As public spaces they are the front steps to a community, activating both a connection socially and economically. It makes little sense that in this town they do not exist and have never been provided for from the start of development here.

We hear parents and experts in their fields say that children today need to get off of their electronics, get outside, engage with friends, and get exercise. Unfortunately, Jones Road, Route 9, and Northern Pines Road are all too
dangerous to walk or ride on with both the volume of traffic and high speeds.

In the United States in 2018 alone, 6,283 pedestrians were killed or 17 human
lives lost every day while “walking along the roadway”. Many of these tragic
deaths were preventable if safe access had been provided.

Everywhere towns across the USA are recognizing the importance of a
walkable community both for safety and better health both mentally and
physically. The US obesity rate is now 42.4% for the first time exceeding 40% and is evidence of the country’s obesity crisis. Statistics show that people who live in neighborhoods with sidewalks or trails are 47% more likely to be active at least 39 minutes/day.

We need to come together as a community in order to improve our lives. Multi-use trails/paths improve safety, inclusivity, communication, and an understanding of our neighbors. They give safe access to alternate transportation, increase property values, beautify the neighborhood, promote business, improve health, bring people together, and help to create a sense of community. It’s time
for a change in Wilton.

We ask you to please sign the petition Walk Wilton today for a better tomorrow. We owe it to our children and future generations.

                                       WALK WILTON WALK SAFE
                                      WWW.WALKWILTONNY.ORG

Join our Facebook group if you would like to get more involved!

RESOURCES:
More Livability Fact Sheets
APA Learn: Tactical Urbanism: People and Pavement: Learn how to set up a program for community-initiated demonstration projects to test ideas for improving walking and biking.

Highway 61 Revisited: The scenic harbor town of Grand Marais, Minnesota, goes on a road diet and gets a highway makeover after teaming up with MnDOT on a context-sensitive solution.

AARP: Rural Livability resources include videos, articles, slideshows, presentations, and more. Visit AARP's Livable Communities newsletter online. AARP Livability Fact Sheet - Sidewalks

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/

1. National Association of Realtors. (November 2013) National Community Preference Survey. http://www.realtor.org/articles/nar-2013-community-preference-survey 2. Sallis J., et al. “Neighborhood Environments and Physical Activity among Adults in 11 countries.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 36, No.2 3. National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). (October 2012) Urban Street Design Guide pp 24-25. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/ pdf/2012-nacto-urban-street-design-guide.pdf 4. Walk Score® is an online logarithmic ranking system that determines the basic walkability of a residential or commercial property. Walk Score uses neighborhood factors such as distance to shops and schools to create a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address http://www.walkscore.com 5. Pivo, G. and Fisher, J.D. (2010) The Walkability Premium in Commercial Real Estate Investments. University of Arizona and Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies, Indiana University. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~gpivo/Walkability%20Paper%208_4%20draft.pdf 6. Cortright, J. Impresa, Inc., CEOs for Cities. (August 2009) Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Home Values in U.S. Cities. http://www.ceosforcities.org/pagefiles/ WalkingTheWalk_CEOsforCities.pdf 7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (August 2012) Vital Signs. http://www.nmhc.org/files/ContentFiles/Brochures/Myth%20and%20Fact%20FINAL.pdf 8. National Center for Safe Routes to School. (October 2013) Trends in Walking and Bicycling to School from 2007 – 2012. http://saferoutesinfo.org/sites/default/files/ Trends_in_Walking_and_Bicycling_to_School_from_2007_to_2012_FINAL.pdf 9. U.S. PIRG Educational Fund. (December 2013) Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America’s Biggest Cities. http://www.uspirg.org/news/ usp/study-shows-driving-decline-america%E2%80%99s-cities 10. Surface Transportation Policy Project, Belden Russonello & Stewart. (April 2003) Americans’ Attitudes Toward Walking and Creating Better Walking Communities. http:// www.transact.org/library/reports_pdfs/pedpoll.pdf.Whetmore J.Z. “Retrofit Sidewalks.” Perils for Pedestrians Public Affairs Series (November 2012) Retrieved March 3, 2014 http://www.pedestrians.org/retrofit/retrofit15.htm 11. Rails to Trails Conservancy, National Park Service. (January 1998) Rail-trails and Safe Communities: The Experience on 372 Trails. http://www.railstotrails.org/resources/ documents/resource_docs/Safe%20Communities_F_lr.pdf 12. Ibid