Yesterday I was invited to sit in on a presentation that two residents of my community gave to the County’s Transportation Council. It was thrilling to watch these people pitch their plan to create an interconnected network of pike and pedestrian pathways throughout the town to provide an alternative transit system for the community. This is exactly the sort of thinking and action that we need to really transform our car centered suburban environment into a people friendly sustainable community.
The Greenways at Ocean plan offers my town the chance to correct decades of car-oriented transportation planning and transform our typical suburban township into a positive role-model for other American suburbs. The benefits would be tremendous: improved health and fitness, decreased reliance on automotive transportation (which is a particular benefit to the young and elderly), decreased consumption of petroleum fuels (reduced carbon footprint), improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and a stronger sense of community.
The plan as proposed provides pedestrian and bike connections to a local university, two industrial parks, and the major retail areas as well as to public schools, parks, and the library. Achieving this would require constructing at least two bridges over the two state highways that bisect our town. These two roadways might as well be the grand canyon to anyone outside of their car and crossing them on foot or bike currently is a very dangerous undertaking. Most pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in my county are along this type of roadway, and offering a safe crossing for people on foot and wheel is something that would certainly make the community much more walkable.
I hope that I will be able to contribute to the effort to refine the greenways plan and make it a reality. Professionally, this sort of project is exactly what I have been hoping to find. Personally, I want these paths for my family. And I can honestly say that if this sort of grand vision can happen here, it can happen anywhere and there is hope yet for transforming American’s suburban communities into sustainable communities.
