The Walk and Bike Wilton Project

Connecting our community through safe, accessible pathways

Sign the PetitionGet Updates

Stay in the Loop

Get the latest updates on our progress, community meetings, and how you can help make safe walking and biking paths a reality in Wilton.

What We're About

If you're a resident of Wilton, New York, you know how important it is to have safe and accessible pedestrian pathways throughout our community. Multi-use paths provide a great opportunity to improve connectivity, promote healthy living, and activate our streets both socially and economically.

By signing our petition, you can help make this a reality without any additional burden on taxpayers by leveraging the town's available budget surplus.

Moreover, multi-use paths offer a range of benefits beyond just transportation. They promote healthy lifestyles by encouraging walking, running, and biking, and they create a sense of community by bringing people together in shared public spaces. Additionally, multi-use paths can be a catalyst for economic activity, attracting businesses and boosting property values in the surrounding area.

We believe that investing in multi-use paths is a smart and worthwhile endeavor for our community. And with your help, we can make it happen. So if you're passionate about creating a more connected, healthy, and vibrant community in Wilton, please sign our petition and join us in this effort.

Where We're Building

In phase one of our proposal, we aim to install multi-use paths on Gick/Jones Road, extending from NY-29 to Route 50, and Maple Ave (NYS Route 9), extending from NY-29 to just past Spring Run. Phase two would include adding multi-use paths to Carr Road, Davidson Drive, and Northern Pines Road, extending from Maple Ave to Lonesome Pine Trail.

Our primary focus is on providing safe neighborhood accessibility to Gavin Park, Dorothy Nolan Elementary School, and Maple Avenue Middle School.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Why This Matters

54% Property Value Increase

Retail properties with a Walk Score ranking of 80 out of 100 were valued 54 percent higher than properties with a Walk Score of 20 and had an increase in net operating income of 42 percent for more walkable properties.

When people are looking to buy a house in Wilton, Saratoga County, they may ask themselves:

Being able to answer yes to all these questions will increase all our property values, and improve the accessibility of our area.

94 Miles of Connected Paths

Saratoga Springs has one of America's best Downtowns, 94 miles of multi-use paths that we can connect to. Saratoga has been designated a Bronze-Level Walk Friendly Community.

Saratoga Springs is planning to enhance its multi-use paths with the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail. Multi-use paths in Wilton connecting to this trail system would exponentially increase the walkability of our town.

Current Walk Scores:

Wilton, NY: 8

Saratoga Springs: 42

Economic Benefits

Multi-use paths increase foot traffic in retail centers, delivering the customers that local shops and restaurants need in order to thrive.

Battle Lake, Minnesota (pop. 735) downsized a highway running through town. Highway 78 — the town's Main Street — local citizens persuaded the agency to do a road diet, narrowing the roadway from four lanes to three, and widening the multi-use path through downtown. Twenty-one new businesses opened in town, including a hotel and bakery, since the project was completed in 2014.

Addressing Common Concerns

"No one will use the multi-use path."

This might have been true in the past, but research published in 2012 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in 2013 by the National Center for Safe Routes to School shows that a growing number of people are walking, and that many are children and adults age 65 and older. People just need safe, convenient and pleasant places near their homes, schools and workplaces to make walking routine.

"Americans prefer to drive."

Perhaps, or maybe they're driving so much because there are no multi-use paths! Federal data on vehicle miles traveled and a recent national study show a decline in driving and car ownership during the 2000s in an overwhelming majority of metro areas. A survey by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership found that 55 percent of Americans would prefer to walk more and drive less.

"Trees will be destroyed."

Not necessarily. Multi-use paths can be curved to avoid trees. In fact, protecting a tree is one of the few reasons for a multi-use path to deviate from a direct route.

"A multi-use path will take land from my lawn"

Many homeowners don't realize how far from the curb their private property line actually extends. There's often enough of a public right-of-way easement in place to create a multi-use path without infringing in any way on a property owner's land.

"People will walk too close to my house."

There's little difference between what passersby can see from a multi-use path versus what they can already see from their cars or by walking along the edge of the street. Any nearness added by a multi-use path would likely be as little as just a few feet.

"Multi-use paths increase crime."

Actually, increased pedestrian activity puts more eyes on the street and creates safety in numbers, which deters and reduces criminal activity.

"Tax dollars are better spent on other needs."

Since multi-use paths increase property values and tax revenues, they serve as an economic engine. Plus, multi-use paths maintenance costs are real estate tax-deductible (IRS Publication 530). Multi-use paths are also safety investments (by bringing more eyes and ears to the street) and an integral part of a balanced transportation budget.

Show Your Support

Join hundreds of Wilton residents who are already supporting this initiative. Your signature makes a difference!

Sign the Petition

Petition hosted on Change.org - secure and trusted platform

Get Involved

Got questions? Want to get involved?

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

We'll never share your email with anyone else.

Research & Resources

  1. National Association of Realtors. (November 2013) National Community Preference Survey
  2. Sallis J., et al. "Neighborhood Environments and Physical Activity among Adults in 11 countries." American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 36, No.2
  3. National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). (October 2012) Urban Street Design Guide pp 24-25.
  4. Walk Score is an online logarithmic ranking system that determines the basic walkability of a residential or commercial property. Walk Score uses neighborhood factors such as distance to shops and schools to create a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address.
  5. Pivo, G. and Fisher, J.D. (2010) The Walkability Premium in Commercial Real Estate Investments. University of Arizona and Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies, Indiana University.
  6. Cortright, J. Impresa, Inc., CEOs for Cities. (August 2009) Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Home Values in U.S. Cities.
  7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (August 2012) Vital Signs. More People Walk to Better Health
  8. National Center for Safe Routes to School. (October 2013) Trends in Walking and Bicycling to School from 2007 – 2012.
  9. U.S. PIRG Educational Fund. (December 2013) Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America's Biggest Cities
  10. Surface Transportation Policy Project, Belden Russonello & Stewart. (April 2003) Americans' Attitudes Toward Walking and Creating Better Walking Communities
  11. AARP Rural Livability
  12. AARP Livable Communities Newsletter