Talking About Walking
Trenton Health Team (THT) has partnered with the Tri State Transportation Campaign to conduct a walk audit in the Trenton Historic Development Collaborative (THDC) neighborhood of the city’s West Ward.
This walk audit is laying the foundation for meaningful systems change focused on enhancing neighborhoods in ways that improve health and well-being — a pillar of our healthy housing work already underway.
As we identify and document issues in the built environment, THT and our partners will seek to both remedy immediate problems and address the systems that created those issues.
We focused on 11 intersections along West State Street, Calhoun Street, Bellevue Avenue, and Hermitage Avenue, and assessed the condition of both sidewalks and streets.
We evaluated crossings and sidewalks, safety, driver behavior, and comfort and appeal at each intersection. Each aspect was rated either poor, fair, good, or excellent. Intersections also received an overall rating.
Common issues encountered during the audit included, but were not limited to, faded and unmarked crosswalks, broken sidewalks, speeding, drivers not yielding to pedestrians and litter.
Common issues encountered during the walk audit included, but were not limited to, faded and unmarked crosswalks, broken sidewalks, speeding, drivers not yielding to pedestrians and litter.
MATTHEW BROAD, TRENTON HEALTH TEAM PROGRAM MANAGER
In addition to the walk audit, our partner Isles, Inc. conducted an assessment of four parks in the THDC neighborhood: Carlos Negron Park, Wilkinson Park, Spring Street Park and Edgewood Avenue Park. The assessment examined amenities such as playground equipment, programming such as YMCA summer meals and needs such as landscaping.
Trenton Health Team plans to discuss our findings with the community during a public forum this spring, as well as share results with the Trenton Complete Streets Steering Committee and City departments including Parks and Recreation, Public Works and the Division of Planning.
Community feedback based on the audit results will guide our work with the City on improvements throughout the community, and move us closer to our goal of a healthy neighborhood with streets that are safer for everyone.