UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State Extension land-use webinar in November will guide local officials on the ins and outs of implementing “active transportation plans.”

The 75-minute webinar, “Local Community Implementation of Active Transportation Plans,” will take place at noon Nov. 20. Presenters will be Scott Peiffer, borough manager of Quarryville borough; Matt Price, executive director of the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau; Laurie Nearhood, planning director for the Huntingdon County Planning and Development office; and Trish Hredzak, of Verona Borough Council.

WalkWorks, a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Downtown Center aimed at promoting activity-friendly routes connecting everyday destinations, has been providing funding to support the development and adoption of active transportation plans or related policies in local communities. This webinar will share the experiences of three communities that have completed and implemented active transportation plans.

During the research and community-involvement phases of creating Huntingdon County's active transportation plan, officials identified several key needs regarding bicycle, pedestrian, wheelchair and paddle sports transportation. Planners noted that 25% of Huntingdon County residents buy groceries at highway-oriented dollar stores or convenience stores in or near their neighborhoods. This fact, coupled with the number of households with access to one or fewer motor vehicles, led to a planning concept that fosters "lifeways." This webinar will focus on defining lifeways and how planners can identify needs for lifeway corridors in their communities while implementing land-use strategies to bring them to fruition.

Quarryville borough was looking to expand their planning toolbox and initially accomplished this through an adoption of an official map in February 2021 with the assistance of the Lancaster County Planning Department. The borough adopted the South Region (Lancaster County) Comprehensive Plan in September 2022 and worked again with the county planning department to seek grant funding from the PA Downtown Center for an active transportation plan.

A group of stakeholders partnered to create the Quarryville plan, which was adopted in September 2022. The borough is nearing final design completion of the Enola Low Grade Rail Trail connecting to the downtown area, with completion of the trail anticipated in 2024. The trail is elevated and not at street level at road crossings. Presenters also will discuss other projects during the webinar.

The Verona borough active transportation plan — titled Verona on the Move — focused on making the community a better place to walk and bike. The plan also will identify priority connections and ways to encourage more residents to walk and bike. The plan was adopted by Verona borough in September 2022.

“Local Community Implementation of Active Transportation Plans” is the fifth and final webinar in the Penn State Extension Summer/Fall 2024 Land Use Webinar Series. The series assists municipal elected and appointed officials, planners, landowners, farmers, and community organizations in being informed regarding land use issues and decisions in their communities.

All webinars in the series are recorded and available for future viewing. Past topics include:

• Improving Rural Communities Response to Homelessness (recorded).

• Finding the Right Audience (recorded).

• Blight Mitigation: Building Capacity through Intergovernmental Partnerships (recorded).

• County Planning Districts: An innovative Approach to Municipal and County Collaboration in Community Planning (recorded).

The cost of the webinar series is $50 for all five sessions, or $95 for all five sessions for those who want to receive AICP certification maintenance credits from the American Planning Association. The cost is also $95 for all five sessions for professional engineers needing PDH credits. In addition, registered landscape architects can receive continuing education credits for a fee of $65.

For anyone interested in a particular topic from the series, access to individual sessions is available for a fee of $15 per session. A scholarship option is available for anyone needing such assistance.

For more information, contact Peter Wulfhorst at 570-832-2803 or by email at ptw3@psu.edu. To register for the webinars, visit the Penn State Extension website.