Charlotte's Pedestrian Program
Every trip starts and ends as a pedestrian trip. The mission of the Pedestrian Program is to make Charlotte a more walkable city by supporting a pedestrian experience that is Safe, Useful, and Inviting. Those three themes are the focus of the
Charlotte WALKS Pedestrian Plan and are supported by other adopted policies, like the
Transportation Action Plan.
To make Charlotte's streets and neighborhoods more walkable, the Pedestrian Program focuses its work in the following three areas:
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Community Investments - Read more about how the Pedestrian Program is improving walkability and public health throughout Charlotte.
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Education & Outreach - Understand how walkable streets and neighborhoods impact a wide variety of issues.
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Long Range Planning - Providing a Safe, Useful, and Inviting pedestrian experience takes planning. Learn more about the Charlotte WALKS pedestrian plan.
In Charlotte more than 250,000 residents don’t drive or own a car and the city is working to provide more non-vehicle transportation options.
Charlotte WALKS, the city’s first comprehensive pedestrian plan, attempts to do this by addressing three main priorities: creating a safe environment for pedestrians; providing a useful street network and land use mix to allow residents to accomplish tasks within proximity, and making the streets and neighborhoods more comfortable and inviting. The plan’s “One Less Trip” study finds that even the smallest incremental changes in transportation policy and behavior can provide positive environmental and economic benefits, including job creation, household savings, improved health and wellbeing, and reduced gas emissions.
The city is spending $7.5 million annually on improvements to increase walkability, including 24 miles of sidewalks, 91 new pedestrian crossings and 84 improved crossings, and $1.4 million will improve safety along high-volume urban trails. A place-making hub emphasizes streets as public spaces, allowing Charlotte residents to pilot projects in the city’s right-of-way, and Open Streets 704 events help bicyclists and pedestrians reimagine the streets as places for fun and exploration. As the city’s population continues to grow at an average of 44 people per day, Charlotte WALKS will guide the city’s efforts to improve and expand non-vehicle transportation options.
Charlotte Receives Statewide Urban Planning Award for Charlotte Walks Pedestrian Plan
The City of Charlotte was recently recognized with a “Marvin Collins Outstanding Planning” award from the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA). Each year the NCAPA gives awards for the best urban planning projects in the state. This year, Charlotte received the Comprehensive Planning award in the Large Community category for its Charlotte WALKS: Pedestrian Plan. One of the NCAPA awards committee members called Charlotte WALKS “…the most comprehensive pedestrian plan I have ever seen.”