At a Black Rock intersection identified as difficult for elderly pedestrians, local successes were celebrated Tuesday in a movement to ensure street planners take all users into consideration.

A news conference at Amherst and Niagara streets heralded the Common Council’s proclamation of “Complete Streets Day.” “Complete Streets Week: Making New York Walkable for All Generations” is under way statewide.

In September, volunteers coordinated by the Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York conducted a “walkability” study of Erie County. According to a poll by AARP, which developed the study, 47 percent of people older than 50 said they couldn’t safely cross major streets near their homes.

In Black Rock, the survey found that the Niagara Street crosswalks lack signals and are unmarked or poorly marked. Sidewalks aren’t wide enough for two people to walk abreast, and broken and heaved pavement needs repairs.

AARP advocates a Complete Streets Law at the national and state levels to ensure that streets of the future are designed to safely accommodate all users — motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

As a result of the study, some changes have been made, according to Ann F. Monroe, president of the health foundation.

“The mayor of the City of Tonawanda has been actively trying to improve the sites in his area,” Monroe said. Problems identified there included traffic lights providing too little time for pedestrians to cross streets in the downtown area, where senior citizen programs and housing are located.

Carlos Gartin, a member of the Dearborn Street Community Association that studied Black Rock, noted two significant problems: a too-brief period for pedestrians to cross four lanes of traffic at Tonawanda and Austin streets, and water vent pipes protruding from the sidewalk on Niagara Street.

“One of them was about 4 inches above the sidewalk, and the other one was probably close to 3,” Gartin said.

The 58-year-old General Motors retiree said he sent a registered letter to the city clerk’s office in late December.

Before spring, city crews cut back and capped both pipes at grade level, then blacktopped around them.

The traffic light at Tonawanda and Austin now provides about 30 seconds for crossing, almost twice as long as previously, Gartin said. He credited Amanda Norton from the health foundation with securing that change.