Sidewalk Inventory of Seguin, Texas A Wellness and Lifetime Knowledge Project (WALK )

1. Sidewalk Inventory of Seguin, Texas A Wellness and Lifetime Knowledge Project (WALK) Introduction Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a sidewalk database and show the walkability of sidewalks in Seguin. Our client, TIPHER, a non-profit organization, is concerned with the health of Seguin’s children. Because of their goal to lower childhood diabetes, WALK kept elementary schools as a focus. It is the goal of this group to develop a strong foundation, onto which the city can create a pedestrian master plan that the city can keep in place with the growth of the city and maintain a well-developed pedestrian network. This will help promote walking and hopefully create a healthier city. Scope Seguin city limits Results Seguin has less than 9% sidewalk coverage of roads. We have identified gaps within the sidewalk network in regards to routes from population centers to schools. WALK developed two different plans: a basic plan to improve the general walkability of the city, and a more detailed plan with elementary schools as the center of focus. Methodology Figure 4 Figure 3 Methodology For Measuring Sidewalks The first step is measuring the ramp if one is present. The next step is measuring the width and length of the sidewalks. The ramp locations should be marked as the corner of this street and that street. For example, the SW corner of East Donegan and Austin Street. With a GPS unit, all ramps and obstructions should be marked. These points can be imported into GIS software and put into a table like Figure 5. Methodology Figure 1 We created two buffers, one to the left and another to the right of the sidewalk feature. The buffer features are then used to clip out the parts of the street which fall inside of the sidewalk buffer. Each clipped street features has a field added to it, to denote having a sidewalk along its segment. Results Figure 6 Figure 5 Detailed Proposed Sidewalks Figure 5 shows a 2-mile service area for each school is shown with routes originating from population centers 3 miles from the schools. This shows the location of needed sidewalks within the 1-mile service area of the schools. This was created with the “Safe Routes to School” Program in mind using the existing sidewalks. This way we can show the gaps in the current sidewalk network. These “needed sidewalks” are our suggestions of where to complete the network, in regards to routes from elementary schools to population centers. We suggest about 35 miles of “needed sidewalks.” Figure 2 Street segments that have a sidewalk on both sides (BothSides feature) are then removed from the left and right sidewalk segments and from the original street features. The BothSides feature is used to remove its segments from the left and right sidewalk segments. After the overlaying segments have been removed, the remaining segments are merged back into a new street feature, containing information about the presence of a sidewalk along the street. Basic Proposed Sidewalks According to TIPHER data, there are currently 40 miles of sidewalks in Seguin. By looking at pedestrian attractors such as schools, parks and hospitals, WALK proposes new sidewalks to complete gaps in the current sidewalk network and create new necessary sidewalks between these pedestrian attractors. WALK came up with almost 9 miles of new sidewalks on this map for Seguin in this model. This map only accounts for location of current sidewalks and pedestrian attractors. This is the only weighted factor. Figure 4 shows the data table. WALK: Wellness and Lifetime Knowledge: Catie Pennington, Geoff Shreve, Leslie Guilliams Website: http://geosites.evans.txstate.edu/g4427/S13/TIPHER.html Course: Dr. Alberto Giordano GEO 4427 Spring 2013 Lab Instructor: Ryan Schuermann Data Sources TIPHER (client), Chamber of Commerce, Seguin Police Department, Seguin ISD, US Census Bureau, Bing, and WALK