Over the last decade, MnDOT has focused increasing attention and resources towards walking throughout the state. As the prime consultant, Alta is building on these efforts to create a plan to enhance walking safety and comfort throughout the state.

This project aims to enact the vision developed within Minnesota Walks, the previous pedestrian plan created by Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Transportation. A major focus is to help the state prioritize investments in pedestrian-specific capital and maintenance projects.

One of the major project tasks involved updating an existing prioritization tool to identify high need areas for walking throughout the state. Criteria for this analysis were based on safety, equity, land use, and infrastructure categories. Alta is currently using results from this analysis to create planning scenarios for long-term infrastructure improvements. These scenarios will use district-level and statewide maps to illustrate high priority areas to improve walking along and across state roadways. Additionally, the team is developing policy and process recommendations to strengthen current MnDOT processes, tools, and policies for prioritizing walking.