Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new study will try to determine whether the noise of road construction eventually makes for healthier neighborhoods.
University of Utah researchers are looking for participants to help answer that question. The study is being funded by an ongoing $2.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, with recruitment now through the fall.
The first phase of the five-year Moving Across Places Study, or MAPS, measures current travel and activity patterns, as well as residents' perceptions and feelings about their neighborhoods.
U of U Environmental Pscyhologist Barbara Brown says people's activity levels will be measured now, and then again when the Trax line is done in 2013.
"For example if you drive to work now but next year you walk to a TRAX stop, that will show up as a healthy behavior that you've adopted because of the street design," she said.
Eligible study participants will be chosen from randomly selected blocks within a 1.2-mile distance to North Temple. A map of the study area can be found at unews.utah.edu/news_releases/neighborhoods -taking-part-in-north-temple-maps-study.
801-585-3754 or
email to Mapstudy@fcs.utah.edu.
Brown says volunteers must be those who will be living in the area for at least a year, and should be able to walk at least a couple of blocks, but cannot be pregnant. Surveyors are able to do interviews in English and Spanish.
"We've had everyone from grandmothers to college students, to veterans, to newcomers to the neighborhood, to longtime advocates of the neighborhood," Brown said.
People taking part in the study will complete surveys and wear two small gadgets for one week in 2012 and then again about one year later. The devices measure travel activities and patterns.
The study will continue into the fall, before the new TRAX light-rail line running down the street opens to the public.
Those who complete all parts of the study will receive $50. The study will be repeated next year to analyze the effects of the new light-rail line and pedestrian-friendly construction.
