Shorewood Earns 'Walk-Friendly Community' Designation

The national Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center designated Shorewood as a bronze level walk-friendly community Thursday, building on the village's trademark motto of being a walkable neighborhood.

Shorewood is the first and only municipality in Wisconsin to receive the accolade. Eight other communities across the country, five of which received a bronze and two a silver level designation, were branded walk-friendly. Washington DC was the only to receive a gold designation.

Village Manager Chris Swartz said the label is a real honor for Shorewood.

"A lot of it had to do with our ," he said. "Our Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee has been in existence for about 20 years, so we have been way ahead of the game."

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He added the bronze level designation serves as a jumping off point to make way for more improvements and creating an even more walkable village.

"There was a list of things about why we didn’t get a higher designation and those are things we need to work on," he said.

According the PBIC, Shorewood garnered the accolade because:

• Residents receive a “walking kit” which includes a walking map and coupons encouraging local shopping.

• The village does a great job managing its crosswalks, there are signal timers at every intersection and highly visible brick and tape makers. The monitors the condition of crosswalks.

• Crossing guards are stationed at every intersection near elementary and middle schools, and their performance is reviewed by the village’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee.

• An annual analysis of vehicle crashes is conducted so local police and adjust patrols and its strategy.

• The village is proactive in enforcement of snow removal.

• Nearly 100 percent of village streets have a sidewalk on at least one side, and sidewalk conditions are rated on a bi-annual basis.