A map depicts the village, county and state roads within the boundaries of Fredonia. In red are county roads; green is a state road, which is Route 20 and the orange is boundaries of the village.

Improvements to pedestrian and bicycling access and safety will be the topic of a Thursday, March 24 forum at the Fredonia Opera House.

The free event, titled “Revitalizing our Community One Step at a Time,” is set to start at 6:30 p.m. It will focus on implementing the “Complete Streets” philosophy.

The forum is sponsored by a slew of politicians: Chautauqua County Legislators Susan Parker and Robert Scudder, Fredonia Mayor Douglas Essek, and the five members of the village Board of Trustees.

“Complete Streets imagines designing (and redesigning) streets to permit all people, regardless of their ages and abilities, to move safely through a community no matter how they chose to use and move along a particular street,” according to a press release sent by Parker.

Roadways and highways such as Route 60 primarily exist to move vehicular traffic, she continued. “In contrast, a street, e.g. East and West Main Streets and Temple (Street) and Central Avenue, serves many purposes, involves many uses and involves mamy different users, including drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and people using shared or public transport.”

There will be presentations and a panel discussion involving four people:

¯ Justin Booth, executive director of GoBike Buffalo;

¯ James Cuozzo, New York State Department of Transportation planner;

¯ Kevin Kearns, special assistant to SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison for strategic initiatives; and

¯ Rebecca Wurster, special projects coordinator with Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Development.

“While the village, County and state have ‘Complete Streets’ policies, implementing the policies is not complete and needs renewed emphasis and action,” the forum’s organizers said in a joint statement. “This forum aims to help consolidate stakeholders, begin identifying Complete Streets initiatives, and empower interested residents and organizations to pursue those initiatives.”