It’s time to walk the walk in Gig Harbor. Thanks to innovative people like Dr. Pat Hogan and many other volunteers associated with Healthy Communities of Pierce County, you can now walk or run or bike in Gig Harbor and use mile markers embedded in the sidewalks as your guide.
For more than a year I have been working with volunteers from a local non-profit called Healthy Communities of Pierce County. This group has a vision to create innovative and collaborative ideas and programs that help sustain multiple perspectives of health and wellness in Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula. These volunteers, made up of local physicians, educators and business leaders have done lectures, a full weekend collaborative summit and are taking the lead on the community garden currently underway at Wilkinson Farm Park. And, through the leadership of Dr. Pat Hogan, they developed and initiated a new mileage marker system in Gig Harbor.
With the goal of getting Gig Harbor residents to be physically active, Healthy Communities of Pierce County wanted to create easily navigable walking/running loops as a motivator. Three loops have been created, all of them intersecting and all of them an easy, entertaining and fun way to move about town, without a car. Encouraging physical activity and less traffic provides a benefit to everyone.
Dr. Hogan, a local Neurologist, and his wife Joan a local DieticianDietician, made a personal contribution to purchase the materials needed for the sidewalk markers. A special material was used that is weather and vandal proof and designed specifically for this type of use. The City of Gig Harbor’s public works staff worked with Hogan on placing the markers on the sidewalks in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. Three routes are in place, with a little more work needed to complete all of the marker placements. The routes are;
GREEN ROUTE – begins at the Old Ferry Landing and proceeds along Harborview Drive along the harbor to Vernhardsen and then all the way back making a 4mile loop.
BLUE ROUTE – begins at the Pierce County Library on Point Fosdick and proceeds down Soundview to Harborview, up Pioneer and left on Judson and back up Soundview to Point Fosdick making a 5mile loop.
RED ROUTE – begins at the Kimball Park and Ride, goes right on Pioneer, left on Stinson, right on Harborview, right on Pioneer, right on Edwards, left on Stinson and back to the Park and Ride making a 3mi loop.
The final piece of the program is to create a map/guide showing the routes as well as other trails in the area. With the extension of the Cushman Trail slated for completion in the fall, Gig Harbor will now have a wide variety of interesting routes to enjoy on foot or bike. Healthy Communities of Gig Harbor believes that Gig Harbor could become a role model for other communities as an ACTIVE CITY. Watch our website for the map, but get out and enjoy the routes now, and let us know what you think. If you would like to get involved in this, or other projects of Healthy Communities of Pierce County, contact Dr. Pat Hogan at hoganpsn@aol.com If you would like to get involved with this or other Healthy Communities of Pierce County projects, contact Dr. Pat Hogan at hoganpsn@aol.com
Contact me at lundl@cityofgigharbor.net
Laureen Lund - City of Gig Harbor Marketing
Director
Reach Gig Harbor Marketing Director Laureen Lund
at lundl@cityofgigharbor.net.
For more than a year I have been working with volunteers from a local non-profit called Healthy Communities of Pierce County. This group has a vision to create innovative and collaborative ideas and programs that help sustain multiple perspectives of health and wellness in Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula. These volunteers, made up of local physicians, educators and business leaders have done lectures, a full weekend collaborative summit and are taking the lead on the community garden currently underway at Wilkinson Farm Park. And, through the leadership of Dr. Pat Hogan, they developed and initiated a new mileage marker system in Gig Harbor.
With the goal of getting Gig Harbor residents to be physically active, Healthy Communities of Pierce County wanted to create easily navigable walking/running loops as a motivator. Three loops have been created, all of them intersecting and all of them an easy, entertaining and fun way to move about town, without a car. Encouraging physical activity and less traffic provides a benefit to everyone.
Dr. Hogan, a local Neurologist, and his wife Joan a local DieticianDietician, made a personal contribution to purchase the materials needed for the sidewalk markers. A special material was used that is weather and vandal proof and designed specifically for this type of use. The City of Gig Harbor’s public works staff worked with Hogan on placing the markers on the sidewalks in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. Three routes are in place, with a little more work needed to complete all of the marker placements. The routes are;
GREEN ROUTE – begins at the Old Ferry Landing and proceeds along Harborview Drive along the harbor to Vernhardsen and then all the way back making a 4mile loop.
BLUE ROUTE – begins at the Pierce County Library on Point Fosdick and proceeds down Soundview to Harborview, up Pioneer and left on Judson and back up Soundview to Point Fosdick making a 5mile loop.
RED ROUTE – begins at the Kimball Park and Ride, goes right on Pioneer, left on Stinson, right on Harborview, right on Pioneer, right on Edwards, left on Stinson and back to the Park and Ride making a 3mi loop.
The final piece of the program is to create a map/guide showing the routes as well as other trails in the area. With the extension of the Cushman Trail slated for completion in the fall, Gig Harbor will now have a wide variety of interesting routes to enjoy on foot or bike. Healthy Communities of Gig Harbor believes that Gig Harbor could become a role model for other communities as an ACTIVE CITY. Watch our website for the map, but get out and enjoy the routes now, and let us know what you think. If you would like to get involved in this, or other projects of Healthy Communities of Pierce County, contact Dr. Pat Hogan at hoganpsn@aol.com If you would like to get involved with this or other Healthy Communities of Pierce County projects, contact Dr. Pat Hogan at hoganpsn@aol.com
Contact me at lundl@cityofgigharbor.net
Laureen Lund - City of Gig Harbor Marketing
Director
Reach Gig Harbor Marketing Director Laureen Lund
at lundl@cityofgigharbor.net.
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