Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
February 8, 2007 issue
Greenway Committee Wants To Find Out
Story by Kathleen McFadden
The subject of smart growth and its concept of walkable communities has been the topic of a number of discussions and presentations in recent months in Boone, but so far no one has addressed the feasibility of being able to actually walk—easily and safely—along town streets. Now the town’s Greenway Committee has initiated a process to determine how pedestrian friendly Boone is.
Anyone who has crossed King Street at the corner of Depot, crossed the Highway 105/321 intersection at Wendy’s, tried to walk State Farm Road or crossed the intersection of Highway 421 and the Highway 105 Extension has a harrowing story to tell, particularly the folks who have recently been hit by vehicles at the King Street intersection.
Walkers and joggers have a hard time getting around in town unless they confine their routes to streets that do not cross major intersections and do not lack sidewalks.
The Pedestrian Subcommittee of the Greenway Committee has been working on a program, tentatively called Walk Boone, to enhance the town’s pedestrian facilities. As part of that process, the subcommittee recently requested the town council’s permission to conduct a pedestrian facilities inventory and a walkability audit. At their January meeting, the members of the Boone Town Council unanimously approved both requests.
The pedestrian facilities inventory will identify crosswalks and other pedestrian features in town to help create a Walk Boone map. The walkability audit is a tool that volunteers will use to rate specific walks in town. The subcommittee anticipates using the info to build a proposal to present to the council and to suggest improvements.
For the walkability audit, the subcommittee will assemble community groups and private citizen volunteers on a Saturday morning in April to conduct field audits of existing walkable corridors in Boone. Individual citizens interested in participating in the program can conduct walkability audits on the specified streets during the two weeks after the Walkability Audit Day in April.
The following walks are currently on the list:
• King Street from Water Street to Hardin Street
• U.S. 421 from Water Street to NC 194
• U.S. 321 (Hardin Street) from King Street to NC 105
• U.S. 321 from NC 105 to Deerfield Road
• Rivers Street from U.S. 321 to Water Street
• Howard Street from Water Street to Hardin Street
• NC 105 Bypass from U.S. 421 to U.S. 321
Every walkability audit participant will complete a standardized walkability audit assessment form to rates his/her experience.
The walkability audit addresses several issues: room to walk, ease of crossing streets, driver behavior, ease of following safety rules and the pleasantness of the experience. Each category has several possible problems that auditors can check, and they rate the overall item on a sale of 1 to 6, with 1 being awful and 6 being excellent.
For example, potential problems listed for the room to walk aspect of the rating are sidewalks that start and stop, sidewalks that are broken or cracked, blocked sidewalks, no sidewalks and too much traffic. The form also provides write-in space for additional problems that are not listed.
Council member Lynne Mason commented that the walkabilty audit and the pedestrian facilities inventory are the first step of a much bigger plan to position Boone as a walking community.
Anyone interested in participating in the walkability audit can call town hall at 828-262-4530.