Walk, Don't Walk

Walkability increasingly appears as part of the conversation in real estate and its "location, location, location" demands, with some housing listings now tethered to their Walk Score, a rating of the ease of accomplishing errands on foot.

Downtown Santa Fe pulls a score of 81, solidly in the "very walkable" category, but the city as a whole scores 36. By contrast, downtown Boulder, Colo., earns a score of 90 (which is ridiculous, because the only way you'll accomplish errands walking through downtown Boulder is if your errands include shopping at Prana or one of two stores selling nothing but spices).

In an increasingly carbon-conscious world, in a city that's looking to attract young people by enabling the car-free lifestyles they enjoy, in a place where people want to walk to run errands or exercise or get the dog out of the yard for a while, there's an eye on Santa Fe's walkability, or lack thereof.

City administration knows. And among the brainchildren of the 2010 Santa Fe Metropolitan Transportation Plan, which included the 2012 Bicycle Master Plan that led to a silver-level "Bicycle Friendly Community" award from the American League of Bicyclists the following year, is the Metropolitan Planning Organization's Pedestrian Master Plan, which was released July 9 for 30 days of public comment.

"It's important we get this right, because getting Santa Feans to hop on a bike or a bus, or, in this case, walk whenever possible, is a big part of the vision of making Santa Fe healthier and more sustainable, from the Southside to the east and back again. Public input is a central to our success, so we're excited to be putting this plan out there, and we're going to take the feedback we receive very seriously," Mayor Javier Gonzales said in the press release announcing the plan.

The roughly 100-page plan has reviewed needs throughout a 426.6-square-mile metropolitan area that extends to outlying rural areas and surrounding communities, including the Pueblo of Tesuque. As we know, sidewalks connect pedestrian routes through historic downtown and many of the newer planned residential neighborhoods, which even enjoy urban trails. But in other areas, those on foot are worse off.

"Many of these areas were developed after World War II in a manner that prioritized the automobile," the plan says, and there are roadways that are "inhospitable to pedestrians."

The city found 255.3 miles of roads that lack sidewalks on either side, and another 57.6 with sidewalks on only one side.

"This plan is not really designed to scope a project, so to speak, it's to identify existing conditions. It's to highlight specific locations and areas of critical concern that need a closer look," says Mark Tibbetts, MPO officer with the Housing and Community Development Department.

Missing sidewalks, as well as obstructions in the sidewalk, crosswalks that are missing or worn down and basic connectivity questions like whether sidewalks reach bus stops or if schoolchildren can safely walk around through the areas around their school mark those concerns.

"What's key about this particular plan is that it developed a heat map…where you look at deficiencies like depressions in sidewalk, and you look at potential demand," he says.

Overlaying pedestrian demand and infrastructure weak points or safety issues has helped develop criteria for assessing areas that need closer attention.

The report identifies the sites around town that have seen the most pedestrian-vehicle crashes: unsurprisingly, major thoroughfares Cerrillos Road, Airport Road, St. Francis Drive and St. Michael's Drive are on the list, as are spots around the Plaza and in the South Capitol area. Ten areas of critical concern for pedestrian safety were identified, and they're scattered throughout town, along some of those same corridors that have seen some of the more frequent collisions.

Specific plans for making streets more walkable will come from a subsequent working group or perhaps a pedestrian advocacy committee, and the plan provides a rating system that can then be used to rank locations identified as in need of improvements.

"There are issues that are not really being addressed at this time because either there are too many—I'm sure staff is doing a great job with what they're tasked to do, but funding is an issue, or lacked thereof," Tibbetts says, adding, "If you're going from one place to another with these complaints, it's hard to do it in a coordinated way."

The master plan, he says, will help prioritize planned improvements.

The plan was developed with Design Office, a local architecture and landscape firm, and drew from data collection and public input, including eight open houses and a survey completed by almost 900 people.

Santa Fe Reporter