Current ALRC Demonstration Projects

Current Projects | Healthy Coastal Connections | Emerging Leaders

Healthy Coastal Connections Project
From March 2009 to April 2010 the Active Living Resource Center will be providing technical assistance to Smart Coast to support the development and implementation of a 5 year strategic plan to reduce childhood obesity in Mobile and Baldwin counties.  The project, known as Healthy Coastal Connections, has as its goal, a 50 percent reduction in the occurrence of childhood obesity over the next 5 years. To read the project’s framing document, click here. (PDF File | 88Kb)

The ALRC will conduct a series of four weeklong field visits to the area during the year. Our first visit focused on bringing awareness to the issue of childhood obesity in the Mobile Bay area, and strategic planning for the HCC project. Our second visit focused on starting local efforts to pass Complete Streets policies at the municipal level. Subsequent visits will see us addressing pedestrian safety and connectivity, Safe Routes to School, and engaging the local healthcare community in the HCC project.

Below are some of the lessons learned and tools we have developed during the first six months of the HCC project.

HCC Travelogue
The HCC project has proven to be a rich learning experience for ALRC staff. The Travelogue is our attempt to capture with words and photos our field visits to Mobile and Baldwin counties.

- June 2009 Travelogue | PDF File 1.6MB
- October 2009 Travelogue

HCC Tools and Presentations
- Our draft Intersection and Street Audit Tool | PDF File 142KB
- Our Complete Street Presentation | PDF File 16.5MB
- Our Complete Street Presentation | PowerPoint Presentation 10MB

HCC Reports
Government Street Pedestrian Safety Audit
The HCC team partnered with the local Business Improvement District to study walkability in downtown Mobile. Government Street is a main east/west connector for motor vehicles, transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians. There are many destinations that could be reached by foot, including the downtown's only grocery store, and the city's waterfront. The report yielded immediate improvements to a transit stop, planned crosswalk upgrades, a presentation to Mobile's City Council, and considerable media attention.
Government Street Report | PDF File 5.2MB

Fonde Elementary School Pedestrian Safety Audit
The elementary school is located at the intersection of two 5 lane roads. A student was (recently) severely injured while walking to school, after he was struck by a motor vehicle. While the incident generated much media interest and community outrage, little has changed in the intervening months and unsafe walking conditions remain. The HCC team visited the school at the request of the principal and a school board member to observe dismissal, to interview parents, students, and school personnel, and to facilitate a community meeting to develop a plan for safety improvements.
Fonde SRTS Report | PDF File 2.9MB

HCC Partners
The Active Living Resource Center’s vital partner in the Mobile Bay area, Smart Coast, has long recognized the link between the built environment and health, by promoting smart growth, multi-use trail development, sustainable business practices, initiating community park projects, and starting Safe Routes to School programs. With the Healthy Coastal Connections project, Smart Coast has broadened its definition of sustainability to include public health.

Project contact: Mark Plotz | mark@bikewalk.org

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