Milwaukee, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Jackson Park Community Association focused on unsafe streets surrounding a major neighborhood park where fast traffic and unclear crossings made walking stressful for residents, including older adults. Through a series of walk audits, residents, volunteers and local officials documented specific hazards and discussed solutions at key intersections. Findings were shared through community meetings and presentations to city leaders, grounding the conversation in lived experience. Volunteer feedback highlighted anxiety at crossings and concerns about speeding vehicles. The work helped inform reconstruction discussions and contributed to funding being allocated for future intersection improvements that support safer park access.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Choteau, MT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Older adults in Choteau often struggled to reach essential places because of uneven sidewalks, scarce curb cuts and hard-to-navigate intersections. City leaders often lacked data to address these daily obstacles. Walk audits invited residents to identify hazards and document heavily used intersections with the AARP Walk Audit Toolkit. Sharing results with the community sparked dialogue about challenges tied to reaching the post office, library and pharmacy. One participant described walking in the street during winter due to bad sidewalks, later saying she was grateful to have her experience recorded as part of a broader effort. The data is now informing planning discussions and future funding applications that aim to create safer routes and guide long-term improvements.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Dover-Foxcroft, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Central Hall Commons set out to address unsafe walking conditions downtown, where broken sidewalks, missing handrails and unreliable crossing signals pushed pedestrians into traffic. This made routine trips risky for older adults and people with limited mobility. Walk audits of Monument Square and Union Square documented steep sidewalk slopes, gaps at private properties, a crosswalk near an accident-prone intersection and signals that failed or were missing. One walker said confusion at crossings led them to "jump out ahead of vehicles," showing how failures shaped dangerous behavior. The project produced a formal audit with fixes, from repairing signals and closing sidewalk gaps to adding benches and traffic-calming treatments. The work elevated pedestrian safety in public decision-making. It is intended to influence near-term fixes and the scope of future improvements that better support older adults and other residents.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.