Community Members Walk Toward a Safer, More Connected Durant
June 23, 2025 — Durant, OK
Over 75 Durant residents, city officials, and local partners hit the streets this summer—not in protest, but in progress. On June 23, 2025, a citywide walk audit brought together community voices to evaluate walkability and identify much-needed improvements between downtown Durant and Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Led by AARP Oklahoma and hosted by the Durant Trails & Open Space and the Sustainable Durant Coalition, the audit aimed to answer a vital question: Could Durant be a safer, easier, and more enjoyable place to get around without a car?
The resounding answer: Yes.
Participants of all ages—including council members, tribal representatives, and young children in strollers—walked, biked, and rolled through critical areas. What they found were common barriers to safe pedestrian travel: broken sidewalks, faded crosswalks, missing signage, and overgrown vegetation. But they also uncovered opportunity—for creative solutions like artistic crosswalks, protected bike lanes, school safety zones, and low-cost pilot projects.
“Some parents said they’d rather drive across the street than risk walking due to traffic and missing infrastructure,” one participant observed. “That has to change.”
The top priority emerging from the walk audit is transforming 5th and 6th Avenues into safe, multimodal corridors that connect key destinations like SEOSU, the Boys & Girls Club, and area parks. Recommendations include narrowing travel lanes to make space for protected pedestrian paths and enhancing traffic-calming measures.
The full audit report, compiled by AARP and regional partners, is now available to the public.
📄 Download the full PDF report here:
👉 Durant Walk Audit Report (PDF)
🌐 Explore more walkability studies across Southeastern Oklahoma at:
👉 sertpo.org/community-walk-assessments
