A woman walks on the Saucon Rail Trail near the Reading Drive trailhead in Lower Saucon Township. (FILE PHOTO)
Gov. Tom Wolf and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health announced Friday that Lower Saucon Township is one of 10 Pennsylvania communities and agencies that will receive grants to assist with developing plans and policies to increase physical activity options through the WalkWorks program.
The township was awarded $20,000 as did the City of Bethlehem and the Quakertown Alive! program, according to a news release.
“Having access to areas for recreation, such as walking and biking, is essential in keeping Pennsylvanians healthy–especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in it. “Physical activity can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and premature death. Being active also helps prevent weight gain, reduce depression and improve cognitive function in older adults. We are proud of this collaboration and the grant recipients who will help support the efforts to encourage safe physical activity in their communities across Pennsylvania.”
The grant recipients will be able to use the funding to execute plans they submitted which emphasize new or improved pedestrian, bicycle and/or transit systems and focus on establishing activity-friendly routes that connect residents to everyday destinations.
“Activity-friendly routes connected to everyday destinations can make it safe and convenient for people of all abilities to walk, bike or wheel,” said Carol L. Reichbaum, director of WalkWorks at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Public Health Practice. “While community design has long been the domain of land use and transportation planners, it has become increasingly obvious that our communities will benefit from greater collaboration with strategic partners such as public health practitioners, municipal planning entities, advocacy organizations and others to create built environments that better support health.”
The WalkWorks program is dedicated to increasing walking, establishing activity-friendly routes and expanding walkable communities across Pennsylvania.
Funding for WalkWorks is provided by the Department of Health through the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant and the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Grant, both from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The news release noted that the 10 grant recipients were selected from a competitive pool of high-quality applicants by a multidisciplinary review team that included representatives from the DOH, University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Public Health Practice, PennDOT, DCNR, the Department of Community & Economic Development and the Pennsylvania Local Technical Assistance Program.
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