Local Officials Participate in Pro-Active Webinar

Cobleskill, NY (February 24, 2014) – Creating Healthy Places To Live, Work and Play hosted a webinar at SUNY Cobleskill for elected officials and road crews to learn Cost Effective Solutions for Complete Streets on February 24th. Representatives from towns and villages as well as County level employees were invited to participate in this viewing and discussion.

Complete Streets is a way of looking at roads being used by all – cars, buses, trucks, as well as bicycles, wheel chair and pedestrians.  It looks at access to being able to get from one place to another by the mode of transportation that is best for the individual.  

Currently in Schoharie County Sharon Springs and Schoharie have adopted Complete Street Policies that were crafted with assistance from LaBerge Group from Albany; their assistance was supported by Creating Healthy Places grant funds.  Blenheim and Middleburgh are working on drafting  policies  with LaBerge group currently.

The webinar offered inexpensive ways to implement Complete Streets within communities, whether it is during a planned restriping of a road to enlarge a shoulder for bicyclists and pedestrians or if it is a making a plan to clear not only sidewalks, but curb cuts so that people can easily cross streets.  The webinar was presented by Jeff Olsen from Alta Group in Albany and sponsored by TriState Transportation and DASH NY.  After the webinar, a discussion was held on projects to consider locally as well as how to fund some of the more costly changes being discussed by communities through the NY Rising discussions.

Complete Streets have several benefits including allowing for people to have a walkable community.  Complete Streets also can improve the economics of a community by creating a more conducive environment for people to shop in downtown stores.  Complete streets can improve the environment by encouraging people to walk and bicycle instead of take a car for short trips or to use public transportation to get where they are going and thereby reducing emissions released into the air.

Creating Healthy Places is a grant funded through New York State Department of Health to address the growing problem of obesity and its effects on chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Heart Disease.  The Grant was awarded to SUNY Cobleskill in 2010 for 5 years with $875,000 coming into the community to work on access to fresh fruits and vegetables and places to be physically active.  For more information or questions, please contact Maureen Blanchard, Project Coordinator at (518) 255-5294.