Lucy Gibson

Burlington Free Press

It never hurts to begin with the basics: Walking is the most fundamental form of transportation. It's the way we start moving every day.

Every trip we make begins by walking, even if it's just to get us to our car or to a bus stop.

If you're in a place that's conducive to walking, it also can be a really enjoyable way to get around.

Walking shaped much of what we treasure as a society -- think of the charm we associate with communities developed before World War II that were designed for pedestrians.

However, sharing space with high-speed traffic not only can be unpleasant, but scary and dangerous -- for drivers as well as walkers!

In every town in Vermont, there are at least some people who don't have access to car or are unable to drive, and often need to walk for transportation. Children and the elderly figure high in this population.

Everybody needs -- or will need -- safe walkways.

Yet the recent windfall of stimulus funds for transportation projects largely bypassed this need. Most it went to conventional road and bridge projects; some went to public-transit providers -- but a small fraction went to improvements for bicycles and pedestrians. Why? Because stimulus projects were required to be "shovel ready," and it turns out that Vermont's sidewalk and bike projects rarely are.

We can work to remedy this shortfall. Here's how:

• Instead of waiting for experts at the Vermont Agency of Transportation to tell us where we need new sidewalks or bike paths, we need to figure this out for ourselves, and then tell them.

Some communities are well ahead in this area and have "bicycle/pedestrian plans," complete with lists of prioritized projects. See if your town has one of these plans by contacting your town planner, town manager or a selectboard member.

• If your town doesn't have anyone actively working on making your roads safer for walkers and bikers, organize a group to start thinking about this, and build support for a well-grounded plan that will make a positive difference.

• Take a walk around your town and think about where you feel safe, welcome,and like a legitimate user of your street network.

• Make note of places you see people walking where it just doesn't look safe or comfortable -- where you would not want to trade places with them. Improvements could range from just a few more feet of road shoulder to a full sidewalk or bike path. • Prioritize your needs. The goal: a safe and enduring project. The results will be in place for generations and will be a real asset to your community.

• Get help from VTrans to take the project to the "shovel-ready" stage. This takes persistence, patience, planning, engineering and money. You'll probably need the agency's help in resolving issues such as property ownership, environmental concerns and permits and utility rights-of-way.

• Work with legislators to restore funding for the design and engineering of bike and pedestrian improvements. The relative amounts of funding for highway projects versus pedestrian projects is our decision as a society.

• Get in touch with advocacy groups. If you live in the Burlington area, contact the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization (www.ccmpo.org) or Local Motion for help. For the rest of us, our regional planning commissions (www.vapda.org) are staffed with transportation planners who can help you get started.

Also, the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition works on advocating for funding and projects (www.vtbikeped.org) and is a great source of information.

• Remember, too, that if you build it, they will come. There are many places across the state that have seen significant increases in the numbers of walkers or bikers following an improvement project.

In Shelburne, more than twice as many children are walking to school since a sidewalk extension was built on U.S. Route 7. In Norwich, bicycle commuting has tripled following the addition of bike lanes along a major commuting route.

A recurring theme among highway lobbyists is this: Bicyclists and walkers contribute less to highway funds, so why should drivers want to accommodate them? I would argue a road that is unsafe for walkers or bicyclists also is unsafe for cars. We all win when roads are safe for all users.

Lucy Gibson is the founder, planner and engineer of Smart Mobility Inc., www.smartmobility.com