The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is promoting a series of “walkability” audits in 17 communities around the state, designed to provide a hands-on evaluation of the walking conditions in a portion of the community, with active discussion of design improvement ideas. There is no charge for participants to take part in a walk or attend a presentation. The audits are designed to help city engineers, planners, officials and residents, health education professionals and others realize the benefits of providing a safe and attractive environment for walking. The audits will be conducted by Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, who has 38 years of experience in developing, promoting and evaluating active transportation facilities, traffic calming practices and walkable communities. Audits will be conducted from Aug. 16 - 27. A complete list of audits and contact information is available on the MDOT Web site under Roads and Travel under Alternatives to Driving.