BikeWalkLee is one of the partners in this Lee County 2-day walking audit workshop in the Tice Community, and the larger Lee County/FDOT bike/ped safety campaign being launched next week.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2013
Media Contacts:
Tessa LeSage Debbie
Tower
Sustainability Programs Manager Communications
Director
Lee County Office of Sustainability Florida Department of
Transportation
(239) 533-2240 (239) 461-4300
LEE COUNTY, FL (May 1, 2013) - Tice residents
and children from Tice Elementary School will walk their neighborhoods Thursday,
May 9, and tell county officials and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
representatives what they think it will take to make walking and biking to
school safer.
The community walk – called a Walking
Audit – and a design workshop will happen 8 a.m. to noon, with children walking
from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Residents along with Lee County and
City of Fort Myers leaders and staff and are invited to participate. A
press conference – called Travel SafeLee – will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Tice
Elementary School.
A Walking Audit is an assessment of what access exists
to both cyclists and pedestrians that’s put together by stakeholders who
literally walk the streets to do their research.
The event is part of a larger two-day U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant-funded event administered through
Project for Public Spaces to improve community engagement and livability. On
Wednesday, May 8, and Thursday, May 9, residents of the Tice Historic Community
will engage in Spanish and English Walking Audits and design exercises to
complete a community wide Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan. The plan will help identify
funding priorities to supplement the Lee County Metropolitan Planning
Organization’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan.
Convening
in Tice for the two-day session is a team of multi-lingual community-building
experts from the Local Government Commission, a nonprofit organization that
works with local and regional leaders to create more livable, healthy,
prosperous, and resource-efficient communities.
FDOT is partnering with Lee County and the Project for
Public Spaces team to simultaneously launch the “Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow –
Safety Doesn’t Happen by Accident!” campaign for Lee County in Tice.
The state initiative and what it can accomplish is
critical, said FDOT District Secretary Billy Hattaway.
The campaign emphasizes four important behaviors for
pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers on our roadways:
- always use the crosswalk,
- look before crossing,
- stop before turning right on red,
- yield to pedestrians.
Learning the rules and making sure to follow them
every time will help reduce fatalities and injuries to pedestrians and
bicyclists, Hattaway said.
Florida
Gulf Coast University’s Southwest Florida Center for Public & Social Policy
partnered with Lee County, the Tice Historic Community and BikeWalkLee to apply
for the U.S. EPA’s “Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities” Technical
Assistance Grant in 2012. The
community was awarded one of only nine grants nationally in 2013.
“This is
a tremendous opportunity for Lee County,” said Tessa LeSage, Lee County
Sustainability Programs Manager. “We will work with national experts to learn
best practices aimed at increasing community engagement and facilitating design
workshops that will apply as we implement our Complete Streets resolution in
Tice and throughout Lee County.”
Event Information:
Community Walk & Design Workshop
Tice Elementary School Media Center
4524 Tice St., Fort Myers, FL 33916
Thursday, May 9, 2013
8 a.m. – noon
Press Conference
Tice Elementary School main entrance
4524 Tice St., Fort Myers, FL 33916
Thursday, May 9, 2013
10:30 a.m.
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