Lee Department Health receives national grant for Health Impact Assessment in Tice

We are pleased that the Lee County Health Department is working on the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in partnership with the Tice community and other stakeholders, such as BikeWalkLee. This project is on the cutting edge of HIA studies that are rapidly emerging throughout the U.S. as a valuable component of the decision making process. Among other major private foundations, the use of HIAs is recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supports two key directions by the U.S. Surgeon General, and is part of the Centers for Disease Control’s Healthy Community Design Initiative. With all of the major funders and national agencies behind the use of the HIA process, this project’s findings will certainly attract national attention.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2014
HEALTH OFFICIALS RECEIVE NATIONAL GRANT
LEE COUNTY— The Florida Department of Health in Lee County was one of three national
recipients of a Health Impact Assessment grant offered by the National Association of
Community & City Health Officials. The award will be used in the Tice community of Fort Myers
to conduct an intermediate Health Impact Assessment to supplement data collected earlier this
year in a preliminary study.

“We will provide the data about the health effects of proposed road connections or lack of
connections, and redevelopment plans to decision makers,” said Geordie Smith, environmental manager with DOH-Lee and the project manager. “The planners can use this information to link the health needs into the neighborhood design.”

The preliminary assessment asked residents about their concerns related to health and safety.
Those results showed traffic safety was a primary concern, along with air quality and social
engagement.

Questions asked in the intermediate assessment include the health impact of proposals to
narrow main roadways, lower speed limits and install traffic calming devices such as pedestrian
cross walks, sidewalks and bike paths. The surveys delve into the impact of those proposals on
health issues such as safety, physical activity, health care access, emergency response, mental
health and crime reduction.

DOH-Lee is partnering with the Tice Health Impact Assessment Team. The team includes
members from Florida Gulf Coast University and NACCHO. The work is a part of the Protocol
for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health, which was developed by
NACCHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The assessment is expected to be completed by mid-June. For more information go to
www.leechd.com.

The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people
in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.floridahealth.gov.

 Contact: Diane Holm, PIO
(239) 332-9561
 (850) 519-5728

FGCU's Health Impact Assessment: Ortiz Ave. Road Widening

 Thanks to FGCU's Dr. Margaret Banyan and recent MPA graduate Vitor Suguri for undertaking this important Health Impact Assessment in the Tice community.

BikeWalkLee has reported on various developments related to the Ortiz Avenue road widening project over the course of the last few years. We were pleased to see that researchers at Florida Gulf Coast University have completed and published a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the project and delivered the results to the county commissioners.

           

Tice residents identifying problem areas from walking audit

HIAs are a stakeholder-driven process that are used to help evaluate a plan or policy.  HIAs are becoming increasingly popular, as the method can isolate various features of a project or policy from other political or financial considerations. Transportation-related HIAs are becoming more popular, perhaps in part due to the significant consequences of ‘getting is wrong’ where bad design or policy can result serious injury or death. 

As a result of the usefulness of this process, Margaret Banyan, Ph.D. and Vitor Suguri, MPA, researchers from Florida Gulf Coast University, completed a study to assess the health impacts of the Ortiz Avenue Widening Project. The goal of the Ortiz Road Widening HIA Project was to 1) assess the health consequences of a planned road-widening project and 2) aid stakeholders and policy makers to make informed decisions about any potential alternatives as may be needed.  

 

Tice residents participating in 5/13 PPS walking audit

The researchers, in coordination with stakeholders, considered three main categories of health impacts: 1) environmental impacts that are related to changes in the physical environment. These consist of collisions, fatalities, and air quality; 2) behavioral impacts relating to the changes in individual behaviors as a result of the project – primarily physical activity changes; and 3) social and community impacts, which are primarily measured by changes in social cohesion or social networks.

The study found that if constructed as planned, the Ortiz widening project would have mixed impacts on resident health. However, the impacts on health were primarily negative. The benefits included the provision of bike lanes and sidewalks that may lead to increased physical activity. However, these benefits were offset by significant negative health consequences that included an increased risk of collisions, decreased air quality, decreased physical activity (due to road speed and inability to safely cross the widened road), and decreased social cohesion.  

A bike/ped/transit-unfriendly road in Tice

The recommendations for the project were to rethink the road design to narrow the overall lane width, reduce the number of lanes, and reduce design speed. Overall, the project should reduce the physical safety risks associated with a wider and faster road; enhance the walking and bicycling environment by incorporating bicycling and walking paths, crosswalks, and signalization for major pedestrian crossings; and incorporate additional greenspace or low impact development in the already purchased right of way as a way to encourage positive impacts on walking and bicycling behavior as well as increase social cohesion. 

Tice Planning Panel's proposed complete streets alternative for Ortiz Rd. project

The HIA report was shared with the Lee County Board of County Commissioners and appears on the Pew Charitable Trusts Health Impact Project catalog of completed HIAs.

Click here to see the full report.