Do you bike or walk in Winnebago
County? Technically everyone is a pedestrian at some point in their day, so we
have some exciting news for you! Winnebago County is in the beginning stages of
creating a Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan that will address creating safer routes for
walkers and bicyclists and creating routes that connect destinations such as
the County Parks and trails.
My name is Sarahjean and I am a
guest blogger this week. Through the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Community
Health Internship Program, I had the opportunity to spend 8 weeks
this summer working with the Winnebago County Health Department gathering data
for their bicycle/pedestrian plan.
Throughout my internship I have
performed multiple audits at intersections throughout Winnebago County,
particularly in rural areas. At these audits I had to look at the road
conditions and think about how the current conditions affect walkers and
bicyclists. I also performed counts of walkers and bicyclists using these
intersections to gather baseline data of usage for these areas.
Another intern, Sam, will be
continuing my project now that my internship has ended. She will be going back
around to do a second round of counts at each intersection.
The health department, parks
department, and the department of transportation are currently in the process
of hiring a consultant. Once the consultant has been hired, all the data I have
gathered will be given to them. The consultant will gather additional data that
will be used to create a plan with suggestions of improvements to make that
will benefit walkers and bicyclists.
Throughout the next year, the consultant will be asking for feedback from Winnebago County residents. Make sure to voice your opinion/suggestions to make it easier to walk, bike and be active!
If you are interested in seeing
the report that I created regarding the audits that were performed, please
email Emily Dieringer at EDieringer@co.winnebago.wi.us
Below is a video I created for AHEC explaining my project and time at the health department!
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