SHIP 4 Grantees
Blue Earth Area Active Living
Their mini grant will focus on utilizing
funds to contract with Region Nine Development Commission to develop a sidewalk
assessment and bike route plan to guide the city in all future development and
repair. A community leader certified as
a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) will provide safe biking instruction for
youth and adults in the community. The
ultimate goal is to work toward encouraging the City of Blue to adopt a
complete streets policy. A
well-designed complete streets policy ensures these active living principles
are followed into the future. This
proactive group will continue to promote active living principles by following
recommendations of their completed Bicycle Friendly Community application. Planning bike routes and providing bike racks
at key community locations will foster an atmosphere of active transportation
and healthy living. They plan to
collaborate with other regional active living coalitions to begin looking at
developing a Regional Master Trail plan.
City of Fairmont/Fairmont Community Education
and Recreation/Project 1590
The City of Fairmont in conjunction
with Fairmont Community Education and Recreation, Project 1590, and Martin
County are looking to expand on an existing Active Transportation Plan within
the City of Fairmont. One goal of the
project would be to identify specific routes within the City of Fairmont to
create a local Active Living Network.
The second goal is to initiate a vision for a regional trail master plan
that would extend the City network into Martin County. They will work with a local
consultant to develop an active living network GIS mapping that will be available
to the public via websites and printed maps.
They will identify a vision for future development of a regional trail
master plan that would utilize the current Active Transportation plan and
connect to the active living network.
The vision would consist of identifying potential routes, engaging
stakeholders, and public input. This
project will be targeted towards citizens of all ages and demographics,
including low income, senior citizens, youth, Latino and other diversity
populations within our region.
WELLS ACTIVE LIVING COALITION
A top priority is to develop and
design a pedestrian/bike master plan to connect community active living
resources. They will continue to work on
a county wide bicycle plan to connect the communities, natural resources and
other assets to enhance active living.
Projects will include installing way finding signs, bike racks, benches,
development of a master regional trail plan and hold events to promote walking
and biking within their community. Communities will be educated about complete
streets and policies that can be adopted to support multimodal transportation. An
inventory (GIS-sidewalk/trail conditions) of existing sidewalks and trails,
both locally and countywide, will provide a baseline that will guide
prioritization and development of a plan that will connect and benefit the City
of Wells and ultimately the entire county.
Truman Active Living
This group plans to utilize the Truman
Active Living Plan created by Region Nine Development Commission in SHIP 3 to
develop a trail plan that connects the community to major destinations and
recreational areas and also links to surrounding communities. They plan on working with Region Nine
Development Commission to complete an assessment of the sidewalks connecting
major destinations in the community and to identify gaps in safe passage ways.
The Truman School plans on implementing a Safe Routes to School initiative. Traffic calming measures along Highways 15
and 52 and Ciro Street will be implemented. The active living team will partner
with businesses to educate and promote the benefits of wellness to the
community. They will promote and continue to educate community leaders about
complete streets in city planning.
Trimont Active Living
The main goal of this group is to ensure that
sidewalks and paths are safe and accessible routes for the citizens of Trimont
and the surrounding area. The development of a trails system connected to other
current and proposed trails that will benefit everyone in the Martin County
West area is key. They plan to work with
Region Nine Development Commission to develop walking/bicycle paths along
Highway #4 south to the new Town Center,
and north to Ormsby, MN to connect to the Watonwan County trail coming in 2016,
as well as a trail to connect Trimont to Cedar Hansen County Parks. They will
be assessing the quality of their current network of sidewalks to determine
which ones are being used and those in need of repair. To design and develop
safe drop off and pickup locations for students arriving and departing from
school property to promote safe routes to school. Their intended outcome is to connect the
Trimont area to a region wide system of trails both to encourage increased
physical activity of current residents and to bring in visitors to Trimont and
Martin County.
SHIP 3 Accomplishments
Blue Earth Area Active Living- coming soon!Wells Area Active Living- coming soon!
Madelia Active Living - coming soon!
Butterfield Active Living- coming soon!
St. James Active Living- coming soon!
Kiester Active Living- coming soon!
Trimont Active Living- coming soon!
Sherburn Active Living- coming soon!
Truman Active Living- coming soon!
SHIP 2 Accomplishments
Blue Earth Active Living Coalition
Blue Earth Area Community Education received $10,000.
Their work plan included further recruiting and developing their Active Living
Coalition, complete assessments of the community – this was done in a prior
grant cycle and included brining national Walkability Expert- Dan Burden to
Blue Earth to do a study with their coalition, developing an action plan moving
forward utilizing recommendations from their walkability study, working with
Envision MN to receive a technical assistance grant for improving pedestrian
mobility. They also contracted with Region 9 Development Commission to develop
an Active Living Plan which included compiling results from the walkability
studies, developing community goals/planning towards becoming more pedestrian
friendly, identify upcoming land-use projects/road infrastructure projects
within the community (local, county and state projects) and developed a list of
potential sources of funding to pay for infrastructure changes (something SHIP
cannot do). Region 9 also helped BEA develop a community survey asking
participants to identify top destinations for walking/biking in the community.
The coalition continued working with MNDot and community committees responsible
for planning the 169 reconstruction project to ensure project will feature
“complete streets” attributes to ensure better pedestrian flow. After
completing all the assessments, the coalitions determined a great use of
funding would be to purchase traffic signage, road paint and templates to help
improve traffic around the elementary school and to further promote Safe Routes
to School. The committee recently presented their work to the City Council in
Blue Earth and the city has requested frequent updates on work and help with
planning road and pedestrian improvement in the future.
Watonwan County Active Living
Watonwan County applied as a single grantee and included the cities of Butterfield, St. James and Madelia. Together they received $10,000. Their work plan included establishing Active Living Coalitions in each community and completing assessments of the community. They held a walkability training and coalition members were trained on how to do walkability/bikeability assessments in their community. This 3 hour training provided education and information to coalition members on what to look / good pedestrian friendly community design and the training included taking coalition members outside to do a walkability study and apply what they learned. They contracted with Region 9 Development Commission to develop an Active Living Plan which included compiling results from the walkability studies, developing community goals/planning towards becoming more pedestrian friendly, identify upcoming land-use projects/road infrastructure projects within the community (local, county and state projects) and developed a list of potential sources of funding to pay for infrastructure changes. Individual plans were developed for St. James, Butterfield and Madelia through respective their active living coalitions. Each community chose to do different “promotional” events to showcase work. Each coalition continues to meet to develop an action plan moving forward that encompasses their active living plan goals/objectives.
Wells Area Active Living Coalition (WALC)The Wells Active Living Coalition (WALC) received $10,000 to continue work that began in SHIP 1 when the group formed as the Voices of Wellness Coalition. The WALC team meets monthly and has been successful in creating opportunities for active living through the work of 3 subcommittees: SRTS, Walkability, and Trails. WALC contracted with Region Nine Development Commission to create an Active Living Wells plan that includes a vision, goals and strategies, identification of upcoming transportation and land use projects, mapping and potential funding and grant sources for consideration. The plan was presented to the City Council and they unanimously endorsed Wells as an active living community. Numerous positive actions occurred as a result. State Hwy 109 was slated for resurfacing in2012 and by submitting a request from all communities affected, paved shoulders and rumble strip placements that consider both pedestrian and bike access and safety were honored and completed in the first phase and will be continued in phase 2 in 2014. This 30 mile stretch figures in to a vision of a trail that connects Faribault County and significant active living resources. Another action that was a direct result of WALC was the consideration and implementation of a complete street when the county was replacing an existing section. After a presentation by WALC to the City Council showing the benefits and safety issues associated with the current placement, the City made the decision to support a new sidewalk placement that considers multimodal use of the street and safety for all users. WALC contracted with the city engineering firm Bolton and Menk to develop a Sidewalk and Trail Plan Proposal to begin the vision of connecting significant community resources by developing a sidewalk and trail system to use in long range planning for active living. WALC conducted a month long Community Healthy Lifestyles Challenge that encouraged all ages to participate in better nutrition, smoking cessation and more active lifestyles. Walking maps showing 6 routes in the community were prepared in partnership with Bolton and Menk. Participants were surveyed and the results will be used in planning for future wellness initiatives. USC Schools and the Wells Area Chamber of Commerce partnered with WALC for a successful event. Work with the City is in progress to adopt policies or resolutions that support active transportation and secure funding sources for design and infrastructure. In partnership with the Wells Area Chamber of Commerce an active living website has been developed and launched and a Wells Area Active Living Resource Guide is being printed and distributed. The Safe Routes to School committee is active with the school and community.
City of Fairmont
The City of Fairmont received $10,000 to advance their work in evaluating the city’s walking and biking trails and to identify at least four target areas with a need for future investments to improve connectivity and use of the system. The community was surveyed to determine familiarity and usage of existing trails, with lack of connectivity cited as one reason for not using the trails. There was a strong response to more/better connections to key destinations such as shopping, schools and the downtown area. Working with their city engineering firm, Bolton and Menk, a working plan and map of their current system and target area gaps was developed. This plan will be used as a basis for funding requests and prioritization for the Park Board and City Council.
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February 2013
Since its inception this past Fall, Madelia Active Living Coalition has moving full speed towards a more walkable/bikeable community. The committee, which includes a broad community membership, is looking at several ways to improve pedestrian travel throughout the city of Madelia. Here are some highlights of their progress:
- Partnering with community members and the local school district to develop a SRTS program which includes development of a community-led walking school bus program as well as completing a needs assessment to ensure adequate number of crossing guards, painted crosswalks and safety mechanisms, such as removing on-street parking on Main Street next to the school.
- After completing their walkability assessment, the coalition learned there has been no sidewalk construction in the community in over 80 years, resulting in unsafe conditions for pedestrians. As a result, the group has identified 3 different routes through the community they plan to create a “sharrow” or shared roadway to encourage more safe pedestrian travel. In addition, the group will work with the city to ensure adequate street light to improve safety.
- The assessment also identified a lack of bike parking and the group plans to improve bike parking as well as bike education in partnership with the school district, law enforcement, hospital and Coughlan publishing company during National Bike to School Day in May.
- Partner with the county to develop a 5-10 year trails plan connecting the community with the county trail system.
- Partner with Chamber of Commerce to develop a path across the park to ensure community members have more direct access to community assets (such as the pool).
September 2012
A hot, 95 degree day did not stop 25 citizens and community leaders from attend a walkability workshop in St. James on Tuesday, September 11th. The workshop, facilitated by Minnesota Department of Health (Amber Dallman) provided communities in Watonwan County with information on how street and community design is essential to improving physical activity of the community. After an hour overview session, the group put on their walking shoes and went for a mile walk around St. James to practice completing a "walkability study" of their own communities.
After completing this workshops, Active Living Coalitions in St. James, Madelia and Butterfield will begin the work of mapping out specific areas in their own communities to complete a walkability assessment. Upon completion, groups will work with Region 9 Development Commission to develop an action plan as well as multimodal transportation plans for their respective communities. Groups will also look at upcoming street, highway and land use renovation projects to ensure plans contain proposals for walking and biking. Here are a few pictures from the workshop:
August 2012
So many wonderful things are happening in our five counties! As we speak, a few street renovation projects are underway, including Lakefield's Main Street and Highway 109 from Wells to Winnebago!- In Watonwan County, Active Living Coalitions have formed in Madelia, St. James and Butterfield. On September 11, those coalition members will participate in a walkability workshop facilitated by SHIP and Minnesota Department of Health so they can begin to perform walking audits in their own communities! From there, plans are in the works to partner with Region 9 Development Commission to work on policy improvements and get potential projects/ concerns "shovel ready" for work when funding is available.
- Blue Earth is working with Envision Minnesota to plan a workshop to engage policy makers and community members on the importance of comprehensive pedestrian plans. This will take place sometime in September or October.
- The City of Fairmont recently released an RFP which utilizes SHIP funds to contract with an engineer to develop master plans for trails within the community!
- The City of Lakefield is currently renovating their main street area. Bike/Ped counts have been done to identify busy areas and observe traffic and pedestrian patterns. The City is working to identify ways to improve and encourage pedestrian travel throughout their downtown.
June 2012
This are moving forward in Faribault County! Blue Earth Area Active Living Coalition was one of six recipients of a Technical Assistance Grant from Envision Minnesota. The grant will help them leverage a their SHIP grant to work on community walkability principles. The goal of the Technical Assistance is to identify opportunities to increase the walkability of the community through Complete Streets and downtown revitalization projects.The Wells Active Living Coalition is hard at work, looking at ways to incorporate complete streets into their community. A recent accomplishment of their work with SHIP includes working with MNDOT to pave a shoulder as a bile lane on Highway 109 from Wells to Winnebago, MN. They have also utilized some of the SHIP grant award to contract with Region 9. A meeting was held on May 2 with stakeholders, including MDH, to determine the priorities for this group. Short and long term plans will be developed and presented to the City Council to create policy to support safe walking, biking and accessibility. The group is also working with United South Central Schools and the Chamber of Commerce to promote Walking Wednesdays, SRTS, Farmers Market Fall Festival, Bike Safety and Kernel Days Family/Kids Triathlon. A community wide Walking Wednesday Event proved to be extremely successful engaging numerous employees from area businesses and children from the school district in walking to work/school.
March 2012
The Active Transportation strategy allows communities to provide safe and convenient opportunities for physical activity by incorporating policies and practices which impacts community design, land use, site planning, and facility access. These changes are proven effective at increasing the levels of physical activity. A number of specific policies and practices that create active communities are those that support non-motorized transportation.The following communities received funds to work on the Community Active Transportation Strategy with CJFMW SHIP:
Wells Active Living Coalition (formally the Voices of Wellness Committee in Wells, MN)
City of Jackson, MN
City of Lakefield, MN
Blue Earth Area Active Living Coalition
Watonwan County (A Collaboration with the City of Madelia, City of St. James and Watonwan County)
City of Fairmont, MN
