Hundreds of survey responses, multiple tabling events, walk audits, bike rides and more have all contributed to this final report which lays out challenges and opportunities for Orchard Park’s roadways, sidewalks, intersections, and trails.
Check it out!
The Orchard Park Active Mobility Action Plan will create a community-informed vision for the Town’s active mobility transportation network, which focuses on opportunities for improving the safety and accessibility of non-automotive modes of transportation throughout the Town and Village.
Crashes included 6 people hit while biking, 6 hit while walking.
These crashes killed 2 people and injured 33.
The means by which we travel within our communities are fundamentally connected to our health, social wellness, the environment, and our economy. Orchard Park, like most suburbs around the US, was developed during a time when land use was shifting away from traditional urban density toward auto-oriented, low-density development. While this shift in land use offered residents new opportunities for more space and cleaner air away from the city, it also limited the way in which children and adults could navigate communities and access jobs, schools, critical amenities, and everyday needs.
Today, communities are reexamining transportation networks that were originally developed solely for moving cars efficiently, to imagine better and safer access for all active modes of transportation.
Funded by a grant secured through Assemblyman Patrick Burke (Assembly District 142), this project will identify challenges and opportunities for active mobility (walking, biking, using a wheelchair) throughout Orchard Park, and develop implementable recommendations for addressing those challenges. In doing so, we will create a foundation to help municipal officials make decisions about future investments in the transportation network and write new policies that enhance the safety and accessibility of the Town for people who want or need to use non-automotive means of transportation.
Analysis will include quantitative data such as vehicle crashes, vehicle speeds, demographics and public health, and existing transportation network mapping, as well as insights from residents gathered through a public survey and outreach events. A stakeholder group composed of engaged residents, business interests, community groups focused on health or transportation, schools, and other related interests, will help guide the process and spread the word to the broader community about ways they can engage.
GObike will also examine the past and current plans, policies, and projects in Orchard Park that inform transportation network development, to better understand community priorities.
GObike will build and distribute a community visioning survey asking residents to share their experiences about how they get around Orchard Park, how they would like to get around, the transportation barriers they face, and the types of places they’d like to bike or walk to more easily in the future. The survey will include a mapping component, enabling residents to share specific areas of concern, important community amenities, and opportunities for improvements.
Based on the findings of the existing conditions analysis and the insights learned from community visioning, GObike will compile a list of recommendations to improve the transportation network for non-automotive modes of transportation. Recommendations will include a list of priority locations for infrastructure improvements, concept designs for roadway investments, new policies for lawmakers to consider, and a framework for community-lead transportation advocacy. Potential funding sources for investments will be provided, as well as estimated timeframes for implementation.
All of the above elements will be packaged in a written report, which can be shared publicly and with Town representatives. The report will serve as a roadmap for decision making as well as a basis for applications for outside funding sources such as federal, state, and philanthropic grants.
Take our survey! We’ll update this page as soon as the link to the survey is ready. After you complete the survey, please spread the word and share it with friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors.
Our project team will be tabling with survey and project information at the Orchard Park Ice Cream Social at the Pavillion on the evening of Friday, July 25th – we’d love to see you there!
More events to come.
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The Orchard Park Active Mobility Action Plan was funded by a grant from the New York Department of State through Assemblymember Patrick Burke (Assembly District 142).
