This was a busy season for our work in the region. Recently, our Regional Planner Leonard Bonarek completed his third community workshop in the Philadelphia region in the past two months. These workshops, part of our TASCC program (Technical Assistance for Suburban Circuit Communities), focus on empowering everyday citizens to take action to make their communities safer to travel in, and to make better connections to their nearby Circuit Trails.
Each community he worked with had different challenges and interests. Here’s a brief rundown of the workshops:
In Trenton, Leonard gave a “road calming toolkit” presentation to a packed house at the East Trenton Collaborative (ETC) office. After the presentation, he helped lead a community mapping and problem identification session with local residents (above image). Additional technical assistance and meeting feedback was provided by colleagues from Mercer County Planning Commission, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association and ETC staff, who organized the event and provided amazing food!
The main concern of the East Trenton Community was traffic safety, particularly truck traffic, in a part of the city that still has many active industrial sites. Many youth in East Trenton must walk to school along roads and cross wide intersections that are not safe for pedestrian travel.
In Upper Darby, Leonard met with about a dozen advocates and concerned citizens from eastern Delaware County at the Holiday Inn Drexel Hill, which is located right on the Darby Creek Trail. Attendees here were largely concerned with improving access to the Trail, as well as promoting its trailheads, which are currently hard to find. Leonard gave a presentation that focused on digital mapping skills, teaching attendees skills such as “adding a place” to google maps. There was an informal happy hour after the workshop as well.
Some workshop attendees gather on the patio behind the hotel, which overlooks a lovely stretch of the creek and trail.
In Doylestown, Leonard had the opportunity to ride the 202 Trail on the way to the workshop, where he gave a presentation on digital mapping skills, and possible future advocacy projects including case studies for how to better connect the 202 Trail to nearby communities. In one case, the answer would be as “simple” as getting a lock removed from a fence gate.
On the way out, Leonard got a guided tour of the Neshaminy Creek Trail by night on the way to the train station.
Interested in having a TASCC workshop in your community? Email leonard@bicyclecoaliion.org