Walking & Wheeling
for a more livable Littleton
Why a focus on walking and wheeling?
We want Littleton streets that are safe and comfortable for walking, riding a bike, using a white cane or walker, rolling in a wheelchair, going for a jog, or letting your ten year old get to school. We’re a community that values its “small town feel” and that especially means feeling at ease under our own power—strolling or rolling—as we go about our daily life.
Walking and wheeling are healthier
Active transport such as walking and riding a bike are ways to combat the alarming growth of illnesses linked to a sedentary lifestyle. It’s better for our seniors too: older Americans living in walkable neighborhoods have higher cognitive function. When we prioritize rolling and strolling, we improve our community’s basic health. Rolling and strolling are also quieter, reducing noise pollution that comes from car and truck engines. Rolling and strolling also brings us more into contact with the trees, sky, creeks, and other natural elements of Littleton.
Getting to school should be safe and easy
Littleton is blessed with a phenomenal public school system. Our children should be able to walk, roll in wheelchairs, or bike to their school without fear of injury or death. Vibrant Littleton wants to see pathways that are safe for children and parents to get to all school entrances without needing a car. It’s better for our kids, better for our neighborhoods, and better for air quality.
Old, young, or disabled? Streets that work for all of us.
When our streets work well for the most vulnerable users, they’re safer for all users. This includes car drivers. Littleton’s street designs currently favor car drivers — and speed — above the safety and comfort of vulnerable users. We want Littleton to adopt lower speed limits, shorten road crossings, add barriers beside bike lanes, widen sidewalks, remove “beg buttons” at crossings, sharpen over-wide corner radii and slip-lanes. In short: Bring balance to Littleton’s street design so that they safely work for everyone.
Actively reducing polluted air
Littleton’s Comprehensive Plan identifies “long-term sustainability of land, water, and air resources” as one of its Key Issues and Considerations. As our community faces increasingly common “Front Range ozone alert” days, ongoing drought and aridification in Colorado, year-round wildfires that keep us from outdoor activity, we must recognize that greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources has been identified as the single largest contributor to these negative impacts. When Littleton makes strolling and rolling its best way to get around, we take a big step towards reducing emissions.
Ways to get involved
with Vibrant Littleton's campaign
Come to our next gathering where you’ll meet other Littleton neighbors who want to see positive changes like this in our city.
Add yourself to our email list. You’ll stay informed of what’s happening and how to make an impact.
Drop us a line and let us know what you think. We love to hear the thoughts of our fellow neighbors!
Read more about the benefits of walking and wheeling
We're not making this stuff up!
While the physical and social rewards of walking are many, walkability is perhaps most useful as it contributes to urban vitality and most meaningful as an indicator of that vitality.
– Jeff Speck, author of ‘Walkable City‘
