Health Impact Assessment: A policy tool to inform decisions around environmental changes that affect physical activity

Background: The purpose of this project was to examine the potential health outcomes related to a street-scale urban design redevelopment project using Health Impact Assessment (HIA).

Methods: The study area included a population of 11,000 individuals (60.0% male, 49.8% Hispanic, 51.3% have less than a high school education, 61.1% were foreign born, and 15.8% live in poverty) living along 2.37 miles of Buford Highway, which is a major seven-lane arterial in Atlanta, GA. A variety of methods (expert opinion, literature review, and modeling) were used to estimate potential health impacts.

Results: Individuals in the study area are estimated to walk an additional 73 minutes per week (range 11 to 124 min/week). A 91% (range: 89%-94%) reduction in pedestrian accidents is expected resulting in 6.1 (6.0-6.3) fewer injuries and 1.6 (1.5-1.7) fewer fatalities per year. A 60% (range: 39%-65%) reduction is expected for automobile collisions resulting in 73.8 (48.0-80.0) fewer injuries per year. It is expected that there will be no changes in regional air pollution levels, a small decrease in noise pollution, an increase in safety and social capital, and a decline in automobile level of service.

Conclusions: Numerous data gaps precluded quantitative analysis for many of the health-related outcomes suggesting that more research is needed before more robust quantitative analysis can be performed. Nonetheless, important decisions have been made regarding pedestrian infrastructure improvements along Buford Highway.