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<br />Barriers to Making Communities <br />More Walkable <br /> <br />If more walkable communities are such a good thing, what's <br />keeping us from having more 01 them? Perhaps the best <br />explanation is that pedestrians and walking have been <br />left out of the processes of land-use planning and of the <br />planning, design, and operation of streets and highways. <br /> <br />Lower Density Development <br />Compact, mixed-use development (e.g., locating <br />employment and shopping closer to residential areas) allows <br />nonmotorized transportation - walking and bicycling - and <br />transit to work more effectively. This type of higher-density <br />development serves to both accommodate and encourage <br />use of these modes as alternatives to the automobile. <br />Although this will not solve the congestion problem, it is <br />a start, and reduces public infrastructure requirements <br />and costs. Not only does low-density development create <br />barriers to walking, it is bad for local economies as well. The <br />good news is that there is growing support for better design <br />of new communities and there are ways to go back and fix <br />the problems in existing neighborhoods. <br /> <br />Transportation Facility Barriers <br />Some aspects of how we have developed our transportation <br />facilities act as major deterrents to walking and create <br />obstacles to travel for pedestrians and disabled people. <br />These include: <br /> <br />. Lack of sidewalks <br /> <br />. Narrow walkway widths <br /> <br />. Missing curb cuts <br /> <br />. Poorly constructed and/or maintained walking surfaces <br /> <br />. Difficult street crossings (e.g., too wide, too fast) <br /> <br />. fnadequate bridge design (e.g., no place to walk) <br /> <br />. Physical features (e.g., rivers, railroad tracks, major <br />arterial streets lacking pedestrian crossings) <br /> <br />. Inadequate facilities for access to transit services <br /> <br />. High-speed, high volume traffic adjacent to schools, <br />parks, shopping, and residential areas <br /> <br />. Inadequate sidewalk maintenance (including snow/ice <br />removal and repair) <br /> <br />Source.' Campaign to Make America Walkable/NCBW <br />(Washington, DC, ]998). <br /> <br />Sidewalk Width - More is BetterJor <br />Pedestrian Activity <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />t\ .-;:~.,:',,-._~' <br />~- t '"{""- . .__(,.1\ <br />\1, i"s"c',"~,\'V <br />.-----.:Lic:=w' <br /> <br /> <br />II <br />.~ <br /> <br />J <br />~1 <br /> <br />"-, <br />J '-['fir\. '" <br />'''~'\l,7 J>f/7" <br />'''\ tJ./ <br />\t <br />QOp.,t;;;_~~. :i ' I\'j If, <br />lp [''-'I =-=::. -~~. ;r,.,.,) t:iITJ ~\? <br />---i-.-i:.'- - -- -; ;t;';iA~~:;f~:;;;~~~~'i"~h~.~~ <br /> <br />15 feet <br /> <br /> <br />3 <br />