The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invited MPO regions to apply for competitive funding assistance to support attendance at the second annual walkability action institute. The Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia TPO’s interdisciplinary team was one of ten selected to attend the institute. The purpose was to prepare teams from MPO regions to pursue policy, systems, and environmental supports for walking and walkability.
The team included representatives from TPO staff, Chattanooga City Council, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, CARTA, and Chattanooga Department of Transportation. The training program was centered on a two-day conference held in Atlanta on April 26-28, 2016.
The team was tasked with developing a Walking Action Plan with at least one action to be implemented by the team. In advance of the workshop, the team met with the TPO Multimodal Advisory Committee to receive input on issues and potential actions to pursue through the Team Action Plan. The team finalized and submitted the Walking Action Plan to the NACDD on May 27, 2016. After submitting the plan, team members reported progress on the plan to the NACDD periodically and participated in a walkability community of practice. Notable accomplishments from the action plan include creating a best practices guide for community-led walks and a pilot project installing temporary pedestrian and bicycle wayfinding signs through a collaboration between River City Company, the Chattanooga Department of Transportation, and TPO staff.