An initiative focusing on creating safer places to walk and bike within Savannah neighborhoods is seeking additional communities to participate in the program. 

The “Activity-Friendly Routes to Everyday Destinations Neighborhood Plan” is administered by the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah through funding from the Centers for Disease Control’s Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant to address barriers to safe, active transportation and physical activity in priority neighborhoods by identifying and tagging areas of streetscape concern.

“The program kicked off last summer, starting in the Edgemere/Sackville neighborhood, with teams of neighborhood residents and volunteers walking through the community and marking broken or missing sidewalks, lack of tree canopies, opportunities for crosswalks and more,” said Armand Turner, physical activity manager for Healthy Savannah and YMCA of Coastal Georgia. “The program has now begun work in three additional neighborhoods with more underway.”

Recently, volunteers from Largo Woods, Quail Forest and Wilshire Estates helped identify and tag areas of streetscape concern in those neighborhoods. That plan is still in development. 

Turner says the Edgemere/Sackville plan, completed last fall, highlights the importance of improvements to Delesseps Avenue as well as the next phase of Cedar Street upgrades south of Delesseps. He says both of those projects have construction pending or currently underway and the neighborhood audit process has likely helped bring attention to the need for such construction.

He is encouraging other organizations representing priority neighborhoods to take advantage of this particular opportunity to identify potential barriers to safe, active transportation and physical activity which can lead to more equitable access to walking and biking routes within their community and throughout the City, including the Tide To Town urban trail system, currently underway.

Turner and his team members are also in the process of scheduling a meeting with the City of Savannah to review findings and recommendations to date. 

“While we have shared some of our findings and recommendations informally with some of the City staff, this is an important step in moving forward to collectively discuss pedestrian improvements at the neighborhood level,” said Denise Grabowski, AICP, LEED AP, of Symbioscity. Her firm is engaged as a technical advisor working with the REACH team on the development of the neighborhood plans. 

Grabowski also pointed to the City’s overall commitment to reducing the increasing number of bike and pedestrian crashes, injuries, and fatalities in the Savannah area by its passage of the Vision Zero resolution earlier this year.

The Vision Zero Resolution invites partnerships with communities, institutional partners, businesses, non-profits, community-based organizations and residents, with the goal of reducing traffic death and serious injury by 2027. The City has also committed to additionally developing procedures for implementing related initiatives including Complete Streets, Traffic Calming Measures, and Street Redesign, with an equitable focus on all public rights of way citywide. 

According to a February 2022 report from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, while isolation during the pandemic led to an overall decrease in motor vehicle crashes as compared to pre-pandemic years, fatal auto crashes have increased by 15% since the COVID pandemic began. On top of that, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities have increased by 21%. The state agency says these increases were primarily fueled by high-speed drivers.

“We want those living in predominately Black and brown communities to know we have the resources and willing people who want to identify what is making it hard for you to walk and bike,” said Turner. “We are helping make Savannah safer, and we want to work with you to create a safer place to walk and bike in your neighborhood and beyond.” 

In addition to helping underscore the need for street, sidewalk and bike path improvements, the Activity-Friendly Routes to Everyday Destinations Neighborhood Plan is also receiving national recognition. Turner was tapped to present an overview of the initiative to the Public Health Institute Center for Wellness and Nutrition at its July national quarterly call. This program of the Public Health Institute is a nationwide leader in developing campaigns, programs, and partnerships to reduce obesity and promote equity in the most vulnerable communities across the country. Turner was also joined on the call by Healthy Savannah’s Muchaneta “Mati” Chikawa, who shared how the organization partners with Savannah’s faith-based organizations to encourage a culture of health among their members and the community. 

As administrators of funding from the Centers for Disease Control’s Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant, the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah are committed to utilizing the five-year, $3.4 million grant to foster sustainable health equity among Black residents in low-wealth neighborhoods by increasing the availability of high-quality nutrition; promoting physical activity through creating greater access to safe places to walk, run, bike and play; and encouraging stronger connections between people and the healthcare providers who serve them. For more information on the Activity-Friendly Routes to Everyday Destinations Neighborhood Plan, visit https://healthysavannah.org/healthy-activities/safety-audit/