Creating a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly community

For the last few months I’ve been speaking to people about a vision I have for the Northfield area. It’s a vision of a community that relies less on motorized vehicles for getting around and more on the old-fashioned power of our own bodies. In particular, it’s a vision of a community that walks and bikes more and drives less.

I’ve been inspired to speak out primarily because of my experience in the city of Davis, California, where  my family and I lived for two years before moving to Northfield in 2004. Davis—which is in northern California, near Sacramento—has been designated the most “bicycle-friendly community” in the country by the League of American Bicyclists.

In Davis I saw that a city can create a transportation infrastructure that serves not only cars and trucks but also pedestrians and bikers. That city has invested in bike and walking trails as well as bike lanes on city streets. Like Northfield, Davis is divided by a major road, but in Davis, it is Interstate 80, a much busier road than Highway 3. Davis has responded by creating bridges and tunnels that bring the opposite sides of the city together, including pedestrian/bike bridges and tunnels.

A few months ago, when I learned about the remarkable work that RENew Northfield has done to promote renewable energy in our area, I shared my ideas with the group’s executive  director, Bruce Anderson. Bruce and other RENew members had already been working on similar issues, and they responded positively. Soon afterwards, Anne Bretts, who is now managing editor of Northfield.org, joined us and shared some of her own views on promoting walking. We began to talk about working to promote walking and biking to schools and have been encouraged to learn about the existence of the national Safe Routes to Schools program.

Why should the Northfield area make changes that will promote more biking and walking? Here are the primary reasons:

• Routine physical activity will improve our health. Rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems related to inactivity are major problems in our country.
• Fewer car trips will produce less air pollution and a healthier environment.
• Fewer cars on our streets will mean less need for more costly car-related road maintenance and infrastructure such as parking lots.
• A more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly community will attract tourists and new residents, providing an economic boost. Given the probable completion of the Mill Towns Trail, tourists will be more likely to leave the trail and explore the town on foot or bike.

RENew has begun to form partnerships on this issue with other groups such as the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation and Carleton College. We’ve learned about the possibility of obtaining foundation funding to promote physical activity in our community. RENew members will also be speaking soon to the Northfield Parks and Recreation Advisory Board about possible initial steps toward our goals. Among other things, we will be recommending that the city create a signed network of bike and walking trails and routes, bike and walking maps, and a volunteer committee on nonmotorized transportation. The latter will ensure that bike and pedestrian needs are incorporated in city planning.

We’ve been encouraged to learn that there is a growing international movement related to these “active living” issues, as well as significant federal and state leadership and money. We here in Northfield can begin to tap into those resources and work with the assistance of others rather than doing it all on our own.

Am I expecting the Northfield area to become just like Davis, California? No. But I do ask our community to take a serious look at changing our approach to local transportation. Some simple changes in how we move around our community could bring us important benefits.