Active Williamsburg Alliance

E-News

• March 2008

For more information contact Stephanie Smith or Sara Lewis.

Formed in 2005, the Active Williamsburg Alliance is a community advocacy group dedicated to making the Williamsburg area a safer and easier place bicycle, walk or run. With our natural beauty and unique historical heritage, we believe we can be a national model for active living. As a chapter of BikeWalk Virginia, the Active Williamsburg Alliance desires to accomplish the following:

• Preserve open space and protect the Williamsburg area's environmental assets. This was the most important outcome identified by focus group participants during the development of the James City County Greenways Master Plan. As population in this region continues to grow, it is critical to take steps to protect the natural beauty of this area.

• Create safe routes for the young and old to get to schools, stores, and work without creating more traffic. Building more roads does not alleviate traffic problems. Creating alternate methods of transportation—or making already-viable methods safe and easy to pursue—will alleviate automobile congestion.

• Improve the overall health of residents by providing "out the door" opportunities for walking, jogging and riding. Obesity among adults and children is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States , and any attempts to counter inactivity should be strongly supported.

• Improve safety for bicyclists and families attempting to travel on dangerous two-lane roads in the county by providing designated bike lanes and paths. As long as cycling is dangerous, it will not be considered a viable transportation alternative for our citizens. Only when citizens understand that cycling is a healthy, cheap, and safe form of transportation will they begin to use bicycles on a regular basis for transportation.

• Create a tourist destination for bicyclists, hikers, birdwatchers, rollerbladers, and other fitness-oriented travelers. In a time of reduced tourism dollars and increased competition for such business, the Williamsburg area needs to capitalize on all of our potential attractions. There is a growing market for “ecotourism.” We can exploit all the positive qualities of our area—including climate, natural beauty, and the relatively compact area in which we live—to complement and connect our already well known attractions.