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REV Birmingham (2017) Print
2017 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
REV Birmingham worked to improve a portion of 1st Avenue South in the Woodlawn neighborhood and commercial district. Along that stretch, speeding vehicles often posed a danger to pedestrians and cyclists. REV chose two blocks for a three-week test of a Compete Street design, reducing the street from four lanes in each direction to two. Reclaiming the space from the removed lanes, they added bike lanes, prominent crosswalks and parallel parking for cars. The organization used the experiment to gather data to substantiate the value of Complete Street conversions. In 2020, REV began working with city officials on several other projects to reclaim streets for pedestrian use.
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Indianapolis, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Indianapolis has several dangerous intersections where 120 pedestrians have died or been injured over the past ten years. The Martin Luther King Multi-Service Center worked with local teenagers to paint the words 120 Is Enough on the pavement at these locations. Organizers say the message is meant to calm traffic and encourage drivers to be more mindful of pedestrians, cyclists and runners. Installation involved working with the city's Department of Public Works to negotiate local rules governing crosswalk designs. Since completing the crosswalks, project organizers say other local advocates have reach out for guidance to successfully create their own artistic crosswalks.
Camden, NJ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: To help people reach Cramer Waterfront Park on foot or by bicycle, this demonstration project tested several street safety improvements. Organizers added crosswalks and temporary curb ramps to a nearby intersection. They also swapped bike and parking lanes in an effort to separate cyclists from vehicle traffic. The Camden Community Partnership collected data to evaluate the traffic calming interventions, which they will use to inform permanent infrastructure upgrades.
West Sacramento, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Residents of a senior apartment complex complained that the intersection connecting them to a senior apartment complex to West Sacramento's City Hall, senior center, library and transit center was difficult to cross. To help residents safely reach local amenities, the City of West Sacramento installed countdown timers, pedestrian-controlled crosswalk buttons and talking signals. Since the upgrades, the City reports no older adults have been struck by cars at the intersection. And the project's success has inspired West Sacramento officials to incorporate age-friendly elements in other infrastructure projects, including future crosswalk improvements.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Birmingham, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Walkability
Description: The project will increase walkability in Birmingham neighborhoods by using walk audits to evaluate them. The data will be shared with community groups so they can see the challenges that residents aged 50 face, and highlight the need for safer, more accessible streets, sidewalks, paths and trails.
Birmingham, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project expanded community garden facilities by renovating an existing trailer to provide restrooms, an office and a classroom/meeting space. The upgrades provide indoor space where Bush Hills Connections can host gardening classes. The garden also received new pet waste stations and hand and equipment sanitation stations. The garden -- once an abandoned school property -- is located within a food desert and provides fresh produce to 200 families. Additionally, it is a popular meeting place, particularly with older adults.
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