{"id":3084,"date":"2013-03-28T16:32:35","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T23:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oregonstate.edu\/sustainability\/blog\/?p=3084"},"modified":"2013-03-28T16:32:35","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T23:32:35","slug":"healthy-streets-initiative-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/2013\/03\/28\/healthy-streets-initiative-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Streets Initiative Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Corvallis is inviting Corvallis residents to join in on the Healthy Streets Planning Initiative.\u00a0 \u201cHealthy streets\u201d are specially designed to be more environmentally friendly as well as safer for everyone.\u00a0 High visibility crosswalks help reduce vehicle\/pedestrian crashes.\u00a0 Shared-use paths and a bike corridor make biking easier and safer.\u00a0 Curb extensions with rain gardens allow storm water to be channeled away from streets and filtered naturally before entering the groundwater.<\/em><\/strong><\/span> These are just some of the amazing features the City is planning to add to some of the streets around Corvallis.<\/p>\n

Why is constructing healthy streets important?\u00a0 First off, storm water is a very important thing to manage.\u00a0 If the facilities to mitigate water runoff are inadequate or poorly designed all kinds of problems can arise.\u00a0 There can be flooding, sewer system damage, pollution in local streams, all costing thousands of dollars in repair to both the City and homeowners.\u00a0 Safety is another concern.\u00a0 A lot of traffic collisions are due to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians simply not seeing each other.\u00a0 New high viability crosswalks would decrease this problem and allow everyone to be a little safer on their trips around town.<\/p>\n

\"healthy<\/p>\n

The City can\u2019t find every problem by itself, and that\u2019s why they need you!\u00a0 Corvallis residents are encouraged to come share their insight on what problems there are around Corvallis.\u00a0 Corvallis is your city, you should get a say in how they improve it.\u00a0 You can read the minutes from the Technical Advisory Group here<\/a>.\u00a0 They are in charge setting the goals of the project and developing an evaluation technique for tracking the progress towards those goals.<\/p>\n

The city will be holding four open house events at the following times and locations to answer questions and talk about the progress so far:<\/p>\n