Q: Tell us about your difficulties reaching places when using forms of active transportation:

Safety and Comfort (35 comments)

 Comments grouped into this category reflected 3 major themes:

1. Weather and terrain – these are commonly identified as barriers to bicycling and walking and can make using a mobility device challenging. Hills, heat, snow and ice maintenance, summer smoke and wind were all identified as barriers in the responses.

“1) Steep inclines    2) Inclement weather (cannot use wheelchair in deep snow/ice)    3) Sidewalks/no curb cuts”

2. Physical comfort – Having disabilities, illnesses or injuries that making walking uncomfortable

“Parkinsons disease”

“I'm crippled and need surgery”

3. Safety – poor lighting, people smoking in public places, feeling unsafe on busy streets or general comments about safety, feeling unsafe.

“Sometimes there are no sidewalks or the sidewalks are in poor condition; not enough crosswalks or street lights; Apple Loop Trail not necessarily safe at night”

Walking and Bicycling Distance (33 comments)

 Walking distance appears to be a significant barrier. For some it is the time it takes to walk the distance and for others it may be related to ability and health.

For the more rural areas of the region, even bicycling distance can be a barrier to getting places using active transportation modes.

“I can't walk very far so stops need to be nearby.  In Wenatchee there is no stop by me and it's too far to walk.  But if I take Link plus downtown , then I can do errands using the trolleys or local busses and be picked up at the end of the day rather than have to have a link plus ride each place.  I often take the bus to Leavenworth too but there is no stop close to where I go so I have to be picked up there”

“anything out of town is hard”

Safe Infrastructure (25 comments)

Comments covered the following infrastructure that makes it difficult to use active transportation:

·         Sidewalk gaps, construction or poor condition

·         Rural highways, connecting between small cities

·         Unsafe or missing pedestrian crossings

·         Traffic on busy streets

·         Very few bike lanes, not all connected

“Sidewalks under construction randomly, care turning into the cross walk or not allowing me to cross when I am at the crosswalk without a signal. Perhaps crosswalk flags, also crosswalks at the north end of Wenatchee Ave. are ridiculously spread out and it becomes most difficult to back track when walking to find a crosswalk to cross the street”

“Too far to work and biking is not safe due to lack of bike paths connecting the valley communities (Carlton -> Mazama)”

“Biking to work is very dangerous since it is located off the Chumstick Hwy. A road that has no curb or sidewalks”

“Sidewalks are not always available, which makes me feel unsafe when transporting my child in a stroller”

 “There is no safe active transportation lanes to the major employers in Moses Lake”

Specific Destinations Mentioned:

·         Wenatchee

·         Chelan Avenue

·         North Wenatchee Avenue, South Wenatchee Avenue

·         Sunnyslope

·         Chumstick Highway

·         Western Avenue

·         Chelan County

·         Okanogan County

·         Moses Lake

·         Carlton to Mazama

Parking Issues (3 comments)

 Two comments identified secure bike parking as a challenge.

Active transportation also included the use of mobility devices, including wheelchairs. -Not having enough handicap parking was identified as an issue.