Turning Ideas into Action!
Turning Ideas into Action!
New to Walk Audits?
If you’re looking to learn what a walk audit is and how to conduct one, start with our Walk Audit 1.0 Toolkit.
Your 7-Step Roadmap from Audit to Action
Identify your project teams, review observations, and prioritize the most critical issues from your audit.
Research existing plans, determine road ownership, and gather crash data to strengthen your case.
Build broad support by engaging neighborhood communities, local officials, and municipal departments.
Define short and medium-term solutions, outline project scope, and set realistic timelines.
Explore local budgets, investigate grants, and seek guidance from NCDOT and other experts.
Execute your plan, communicate progress, and collect data to measure impact and effectiveness.
Showcase completed projects, document challenges overcome, and inspire other communities.
Funding Your Walkability Project
Local Government Budgets
State Funding (NCDOT)
Federal Programs
Technical Assistance & Support
University Extension
Use your Extension network for expertise in urban planning, landscape architecture, and community development.
NCDOT Regional Staff
Division Engineers, planners, and traffic safety engineers for state-maintained roads.
RPOs & MPOs
Rural and Metropolitan Planning Organizations offering technical advice and funding connections.
Walkability Resources & Tools
Project Planning Templates
Templates and guides to help you organize your walkability improvements.
NC Government Resources
Find NCDOT Division contacts, state crash data, and other state contact information.
Project Ideas
Design guides for a variety of infrastructure improvements.
Case Studies & Success Stories
Location: Sparta, NC
Improving Walkability One Step at a Time
Problem: Faded crosswalks, non-working pedestrian crosswalk signals, and significant barriers to accessibility.
Solution: Met with NCDOT and were able to request the crosswalks to be repainted, the pedestrian crosswalk signal was repaired, and universally accessible curb cuts were installed in sidewalks throughout town and at the entrance to Crouse Park.
Key Learnings: If the walk audit had not occurred, these issues probably would not have been addressed. The identified issues were not on NCDOT’s to-do list until our committee met with them and shared the walk audit results!
Location: Winterville, NC
Quick-Build Projects
Problem: Unsafe intersections and crossings near schools
Solution: Community came together and painted bump-outs at the crossings, and NC DOT installed new high-viz crosswalks.
Key Learnings: Findings suggest that these projects helped reduce average motor vehicle speeds and high-end speeds in the vicinity of the project sites, and that these reductions were further supported by the placement of temporary speed feedback signs.
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