Safe Routes to Parks

The Safe Routes to Parks Project is aimed at working with communities to establish safe and accessible routes to parks for all ages, abilities, races, and incomes. Updates in infrastructure are often necessary for creating routes that are capable of accommodating multimodal transportation safely. Community engagement is the foundation for any update. Walking audits are used to collect information on the existing condition of the routes, usually by the people who live in the community. Ultimately, the goal of Safe Routes to Parks is to provide improved access to parks which will improve health conditions and overall well being of all people living in the community.

Blair Park Walking Audit

On October 8 & 15, 2019 at 5:30 pm a walking audit was conducted for Blair Park. The CU Safe Routes to School Project, UIUC Community Learning Lab, and Urbana Park District will be conducted the walking audits. Residents from the surrounding community were encouraged to join and provide their input, and one resident did. Currently, the UIUC CLL is preparing a report on the results of the audit.

Victory Park Walking Audit

Safe Routes to Parks has been working with community members in Urbana to garner input and identify potential hazards along routes through walking audits. On both April 26th and April 29th 2019, two walking audits in the Historic East Urbana Neighborhood were conducted along routes to Victory Park. Eleven community residents participated in the audit. Results of the audit were presented at the Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission meeting on July 16th by Cynthia Hoyle and Gillian Zhao.

The playground at Victory Park in Urbana

An interactive map of the walking routes used in the audit is available. The map also includes markers determining where people saw overgrown landscaping, cracked sidewalks, and vacant lots. Crosswalk infrastructure and driver behavior is also noted in the map.

King Park Walking Audit

A walking audit was conducted on July 11th by members of the Safe Routes to School program as well as the Safe Routes to Park intern Gillian Zhao. Staff members from the Urbana Park district were also in attendance. In total, 11 people showed up to help with the walking audit; however, no participants in the audit lived in the King Park neighborhood.