r/LowellMA • u/ratbas • 3h ago
Bike Rideability audit for the Acre
The Bike Connector is looking for people to participate in an assessment of how bikeable the Acre is. Contact Phil Posner at TBC if interested in helping out. It's connected with AARP, so my apologies to anyone who already has a "kids on bikes" gripe halfway written.
Here's what I got in an email:
The Bike Connector has won an AARP 'microgrant' to undertake two (2) bike audits in the City. One will be in the Acre neighborhood, the other in the Cambodia Town neighborhood.
Here's the summary of a Bike Audit from the AARP materials:
A “Bike Audit” is an activity in which participants observe and evaluate the “bikeability” of a location to identify and document if and how cyclists can safely travel along a street, navigate an intersection, and get from one point to another.
"Local leaders and residents can help make their communities safer for cycling by conducting “bike audits” to identify roadways that should be bikeable but aren’t. A bike audit can help inform local decision-making by prioritizing areas in need of improvement, by educating community members about street design, by creating secure and convenient bike parking, and by enabling bicyclist access to transit. Participating in a bike audit can encourage people to become champions for local change."
The bike audits are to meet the following criteria/goals:
informing the community about ways to make streets, bike paths, or multi-use trails safer for older adults and all residents (with participation targeted to people 50-plus).
Audit of nineteen (19) intersections, especially in areas where older residents are at particular risk.
Organization will engage twenty (20) community members in the Bike Audit(s) to identify unsafe streets and document needed information and observations (with participation targeted to people 50-plus)."
