For a long while now, I have bemoaned the lack of sidewalks in our area. We have a bit of sidewalk in our own little patch of suburbia, as well as a bit of running trail, but those only run intermittently through the neighborhood, and fail to connect us to any other patch of suburbia, which is kind of a problem.
Our neighborhood sits right off a very busy four-lane highway. Very busy. This road has no sidewalks along it, and the shoulders are rather narrow. The traffic along the highway is constant, and deadly fast, and I don't often seen anyone dumb enough to walk along the side of the road to get anywhere. It's just too dangerous.
If it were not for the lack of sidewalks along this stretch of highway, though, I'd be able to walk to the nearest grocery store (about 2 miles away). I'd also be able to walk to our local library and our YMCA (about 3 miles away). This would be great, in my opinion. If I walked to the grocery store once a week to get dinner for Friday, and walked to the Y 2-3 times a week to work out, I'd never have to worry about those 5-10 extra pounds I can't seem to lose. They'd melt away! Plus I'd almost never need to drive, since those are the three places I go most often during the week. I could just walk there, and save money on gas! Imagine that.
I mention all of this because Hubster just recently read that our local government is looking at putting in a stretch of sidewalk along that very busy highway. What they're looking at doing won't stretch as far as the library and Y, unfortunately, but it would stretch past the local grocery store. Also unfortunate, that prophesied sidewalk will only be on one side of the road, the side opposite where my little patch of suburbia is, so I'll have to figure out how to cross a four-lane highway to reach it, because I'm betting no one is smart enough to figure out we'll also need cross walks and signals too.
But still, it's progress, and it looks like there will be more sidewalks going up through our county, and I can't see that as a bad thing. Maybe some day, before I day, I'll have all the sidewalk I'll need to get around this area.
In other news, I do finally seem to be losing weight. It's a combination of water weight and fat, but still, my assets do appear to be shrinking. As I mentioned last Monday, I am taking a month off of EA Sports Active, since my weight gain and knee problems started about the time I started using that game. Instead, I'm going with a combination of Wii Fit, karate, walking, a bit of running, the elliptical machine, and Dance Dance Revolution. In the last three weeks, I've lost four pounds. When school starts up next week and both kids head off for the day, I'll be back to swiming and lifting on a regular basis again, and that should really help kill those extra pounds, I hope.
So how are you all doing with your waist lines? And what would you do if you had sidewalks in your neighborhood? Would you take advantage of them and walk everywhere? Or do you already have them and use them?
3 comments:
I've got sidewalks (almost) everywhere! And yet people in the subdivision insist on walking down the middle of the road...
I don't walk as much as I used to, but I do want to try to get back to walking. School is a bit too much of a walk with how early classes start, and there's a chunk of it that doesn't have sidewalks, but I've done that walk before. I used to walk to the movie theater/bookstore all the time before I got my driver's license. It's about a mile, and there's plenty of crosswalks and such.
Really, though, I think the main reason I don't walk as much is because these aren't places I go to often. If there were a reliable public transport system then I would likely start walking more and driving less.
Mich,
I'm with you on the public transport/sidewalks deal. In Chicago, there was a terrific bus system. We could get anywhere, and buses were highly preferable to renting a car. But here, in our area? I wish the Powers That Be would pull their collective heads out of their collective asses and get with the program. We need sidewalks and proper bus stops (not just sign posts on the shoulder of the road) desperately. Cross walks would be wonderful too.
I don't need to get far most days, so walking would be a great option for me. But I need sidewalks so I don't get run down and killed by the traffic on our local highway.
Oh I agree. When they extended Hampton Roads Center Parkway, they put a passenger walkover between Michael's Woods and Sandy Bottom. If I do walk anywhere on that side of the Parkway, I totally use that (instead of the crosswalks where it intersects with Big Bethel)
What is the speed limit over there by your house? I know it's 55 west of Big Bethel and have always assumed it was the same to the east as well. Definitely not a speed you want to risk crossing the street without a crosswalk!
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