Indiantown Corridor Walk Audit Conducted with Local Partners
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Healthier Jupiter partnered with Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, Town of Jupiter’s Planning and Zoning, Town of Jupiter Police Department’s Traffic Department and Palm Tran to conduct Walk Audits for the Indiantown Corridor. The purpose of conducting a Walk Bike Audit is to identify pedestrian and bicycle issues by being on the ground and experiencing the built environment first hand. The Palm Beach TPA conducts these audits, in collaboration with the municipality, roadway owners, and other stakeholders, like Palm Tran or the School District of Palm Beach County, in order to improve safety and access for people of all ages and abilities.
In June and July, Palm Beach TPA staff, Town of Jupiter staff, Traffic Police, Palm Tran and Healthier Jupiter’s workgroup members conducted 2 walk audits of the Indiantown Road Corridor from Central Boulevard to Alternate A1A.
Healthier Jupiter’s Walk and Bike on Jupiter workgroup was interested in conducting walk audits to train our workgroup members in this critical skill and help identify areas in the community that are safe or unsafe for walkers and bikers in our community. If we have safer streets, more people will be comfortable to go out for a walk or bike ride and get in their daily physical activity! Healthier Jupiter sees walk audits as one of the best tools we have as community members!
Check out the results of our Indiantown Corridor Walk Audit below! You can click on the images below to download the summary report. You can see even more photos and results on the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency’s Walk Bike Audit webpage: www.palmbeachtpa.org/WalkBikeAudits
In addition, Healthier Jupiter’s Project Director, Joanna Peluso, and Walk and Bike on Jupiter Workgroup Member, Joan Reeve, went out for two night-time walk audits to capture what the walking and biking conditions look like at dusk and night along the Indiantown Road Corridor. See some of those photos below!
We asked our Workgroup Members to share what they thought of their experience conducting a Walk Audit. One workgroup member shared that they walk and bike on the streets for transportation and now understand the process that is behind the safety changes in the community. They are interested in seeing infrastructure to support midblocking crossings along the Indiantown Corridor especially around the area between Loxahatchee Drive and Alternate A1A. Another workgroup member shared that landscaping is critical to reduce surface temperature on our streets. They noticed that in some areas the temperature was lower by 15 degrees if it was well shaded. Other workgroup members shared that they noticed things that they never would have noticed if they were driving through, and that there was a lot caution used when crossing some of the intersections along the Indiantown Corridor.
Do you want to share what your experience is like walking or biking on the Indiantown Road Corridor? You can share your stories or get more information by sending an email to healthierjupiter@htpbc.org. Healthier Jupiter will shares it with local leaders for safer streets.
What are the next steps?
After these audits are conducted, the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency will work to collaboratively plan, prioritize and fund identified safety improvements with the Town of Jupiter. The hope is that the Town of Jupiter works with the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency to apply for local grants for safety improvements.
Healthier Jupiter hopes to continue to engage the community on their experiences walking, biking, or rolling on the Indiantown Corridor to help advocate for some of the changes we want to see. You can share your stories or get more information by sending an email to healthierjupiter@htpbc.org
Healthier Jupiter will be partnering with Urban Health Partnership to hold a FoodScape Community Audit of the Indiantown Corridor from 8AM to 11AM on Saturday, Octobre 30th. The FoodScape Community Audit will look at our built environment’s relationship to healthy food access. You register to join us through this link: tinyurl.com/jy3uxnkn
Please stay tuned to Healthier Jupiter’s Walk and Bike on Jupiter Workgroup activities by visiting our webpage at healthierjupiter.org/walk-and-bike-on-jupiter. And consider joining our workgroup! We meet the second week of the month on Tuesdays at 12PM or Friday at 9AM. For more information on the workgroup please call Joanna Peluso, Healthier Jupiter’s Project Director at 561-234-0182.
Healthier Jupiter, in partnership with Jupiter Medical Center, is dedicated to bringing the greater Jupiter community together to encourage each person to live their healthiest life. Healthier Jupiter is part of the Palm Health Foundation’s Healthier Together Initiative, a long-term, community-driven approach to solving a community’s complex healthcare issues.
Healthier Jupiter focuses on:
Promoting and ensuring opportunities for healthy eating and active living
Encouraging people to engage mentally and physically in healthy behaviors
Advocating for improving community conditions impacting health
For more information on how to get involved visit www.healthierjupiter.org/get-involved