From the June 2011 Vision 2020 Champions In Action E-Newsletter

More than 400 business leaders, employee wellness managers, community members, students, and Champions participated in three days of events in May with public health advocate Mark Fenton. The three day series focused on the importance of “completing our streets” so that they are designed and maintained for walkers, bikers, public transit riders and motorists. Mark shared that “for the first time in our history, it is likely that today’s children will have a shorter life expectancy than that of their parents, due to sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition”. To reverse this growing trend, it is imperative that we make significant behavior changes in our lives.  “Although many of these changes are simple and easy to do, they can only reach their full potential when they are instituted as a matter of public policy.”

At the end of the May events, many of the participants responded to a “call to action” and signed a pledge for the City of Keene to adopt a Complete Streets Resolution. The resolution was drafted by the Keene Young Professionals Network (KYPN) and has been endorsed by the Monadnock Region Transportation Management Association.  The resolution states that whenever a road is being built, changed, or updated, all four users need to be considered: pedestrians, bikers, transit users, and vehicles drivers. Instead of designing roads with the sole intention of drivers, it is important to consider each road as part of a larger system that impacts our overall safety, economic development, quality of life, the environment and public health. By supporting a Complete Streets Policy, it can help our own community consider all the impacts roads have on our lives and promote the design and maintenance of roads to maximize benefits. Click here to show your support of the Complete Streets policy being advocated for in Keene! Feel free to use the Resolution as a template to adopt a similar policy in your town. Any and all towns in Cheshire County could benefit from this.

If you would like to get involved with the Keene Young Professionals Network or the Complete Streets Resolution, contact fellow Champion Jen Risley at jen@hannahgrimes.com.