Active Transportation Committee
The Friends of Woodfords Corner’s Active Transportation Committee (ATC) is dedicated to improving the experience and safety of those who walk, bike, and ride METRO.
We promote active transportation in the Corner by installing bike racks near local destinations and temporary traffic calming measures at crosswalks. We placemake, hosting events such as painting crosswalk murals and dancing in the middle of Deering Avenue with the Portland Bike Party. We work with the City of Portland to improve safety at crossings on Forest Avenue and advocate for the installation of pedestrian-scale street lights.
If you’re interested in making the Corner a safer and more inviting place to live, work, and play, consider joining our effort! Please reach out to Nancy Grant, Committee Chair, at nancylewisgrant@gmail.com.
Committee Goals
Improve pedestrian accessibility and safety in Woodford’s Corner.
Increase number of people walking, biking, and using METRO in The Corner.
Educate and engage the public, including Woodfords Corner community members, businesses and residents, on transportation issues, challenges and solutions.
Develop systems for collecting and measuring data on all aspects of transportation around Woodford’s Corner.
Current Projects/Goals
Walks with City Councilors: The ATC hosts “walk ‘n talks” with each new City Councilor. The walks are an excellent opportunity for committee members to identify transportation issues, concerns, and priorities and for Councilors to suggest strategies and programs to address them.
Walking Audit for local residents, businesses, elected officials and City staff: The ATC hosted another walking audit in October 2024, picking up from our efforts back in 2019. The goal is to engage and educate on relevant active transportation issues in The Corner. We will resume this strategy in the spring of 2025.
Bike Rack Bonanza: Safe and convenient bike parking makes it easier for folks to cycle to the corner rather than drive, furthering a vibrant neighborhood streetscape. The FWC Bike Rack Bonanza fundraiser is ongoing! If you’re interested in donating or getting a bike rack near your business, you can read more here.
Installing Traffic Calming Demonstration Infrastructure: Temporary pop-up infrastructure at crosswalks on Deering Avenue, Woodford Street, and Ocean Avenue test traffic-calming measures with low-cost demonstration projects, slowing vehicles and increasing pedestrian and cyclist safety. If you are interested in signing our petition to have the City of Portland install permanent traffic calming measures in these locations, you can do so here.
Placemaking Efforts and Events: Painting colorful crosswalk murals on Deering Avenue slows traffic down, increases pedestrian visibility, and strengthens a sense of place. The FWC also hosts an annual Portland Bike Party event that brings a crowd of cyclists to the Corner to celebrate community with revelry, food, and dancing in Deering Ave!
Bike Share Stand in the Corner: With a stand located at Coveside Coffee, this was the second summer that Portland’s bike share network has extended to Woodford’s Corner.
Ongoing Advocacy and Work with the City of Portland/MaineDOT
Committee member Kellan Simpson wrote this letter to the editor and blog post about structural barriers that pedestrians and cyclists face on corridors like Baxter Boulevard and Forest Avenue.
Working with the City to install pedestrian scale street lights throughout the center of Woodfords Corner: Woodfords Corner has two 5-way intersections within a tenth of a mile, and crossing Forest Avenue means crossing up to five lanes of traffic. Street lights are essential to improve pedestrian safety, both in terms of visibility and protection from crime, and to make Woodfords Corner more walkable at night. If you are interested in learning more about this ongoing effort and joining us in advocating for these street lights, you can read our letter to the editor and this overview of the project’s history.
Working with the City to improve crosswalk safety at Forest Avenue and Lincoln Street and Forest Avenue and Coyle Street, and install a Forest Avenue crosswalk at Baxter Woods.
Working with the City to make the traffic signals in Woodfords Corner more responsive to and oriented toward pedestrians.
Working with MaineDOT to acquire “Village Partnership Program” funding to calm traffic on Forest Ave.
Past Projects
Timely Sidewalk Snow Removal: The FWC conducts the “Know Snow” campaigns to engage community members on the issue of winter walkability around the Corner and ensure timely and comprehensive sidewalk snow removal.
Public Street Walks: During the summer of 2019, the ATC organized two walking audits of Woodfords Corner. We invited the public to walk with us on key streets that exemplified good, bad and ugly conditions for pedestrians. We encouraged our participants to share their experiences on the streets of Woodfords Corner and to suggest solutions to some of the biggest hazards. As a result of these walks, we identified both safety hazards and priorities for addressing them.
Walking School Bus:The ATC launched a Walking School Bus program in Woodfords Corner in the spring of 2019. A Walking School Bus offers school children a way to get to school by walking together in a supervised group. Student participants are chaperoned by a parent “Driver,” who guides the group along a set route, picking up children along the way, much like a regular school bus. Here’s how this program helps:
Walking to school enables children to incorporate regular physical activity before they arrive to school, which research has shown can increase a student’s focus.
When families decide to lace up their sneakers to get to school, they help reduce the amount of carbon and air pollutants emitted by automobiles.
Children and parents develop a sense of community when walking with friends and neighbors along the way.
FWC continued to operate the Walking School Bus in the 2019-2020 school year but the pandemic shut it down. If you are interested in helping bring it back, please contact Vonnett Seeger at vonagra@hotmail.com.
There is now a bike bus that runs to Ocean Avenue Elementary School. If you are interested in learning more or volunteering, reach out to Shannon Belt (smbelt18@gmail.com).
