Begin Main Content Area

 PA.Media.BreadCrumbs - MediaBreadCrumbs

Media > Health > Details

WalkWorks Program Awards 11 Community Grants to Improve Active Transportation

01/03/2019


Pittsburgh, PA – The WalkWorks program, a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, has selected 11 communities to receive grants that will assist with the development of active transportation plans and policies.

“Having access to areas for recreation, such as walking and biking is essential in helping to keep Pennsylvanians healthy,” Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said. “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. These communities should be applauded for their efforts to review how they can make physical exercise part of transportation planning in their community.”

The plans will emphasize walking and biking enhancements to each community’s infrastructure, thereby expanding opportunities for physical activity. The communities receiving the grant awards are: Bristol Borough, Morrisville Borough, New Britain Borough and Plumstead Township in Bucks County; Hatfield Township, Montgomery County Planning Commission and Upper Dublin Municipal Authority in Montgomery County; Lehigh Valley Planning Commission in Lehigh County; Lower Allen Township in Cumberland County; Springettsbury Township in York County and Wilkins Township in Allegheny County.

The grants will help assist in community planning and design to incorporate more opportunities for walking, cycling and public transit for a healthier population. This shift in planning requires a concerted effort to link transportation policy and public health, which these grants support.

“Planning healthy, compact, complete communities is needed to support active transportation,” said Carol L. Reichbaum, M.S.L., M.S.P.A., director of WalkWorks in Pitt Public Health’s Center for Public Health Practice. “Doing so will not only lead to improved health, it will also address other major concerns, including congestion, economic vitality and sustainability. 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 of public health practitioners, municipal planning entities and other partners to create built environments that better support health.”

The grant recipients were selected from a competitive pool of high-quality applicants by a multidisciplinary review team that included Reichbaum and representatives of DOH, PennDOT, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Department of Aging, the Department of Community & Economic Development, and the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering.

Funding for WalkWorks is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health through the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant and the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, both from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more information about WalkWorks, visit www.pawalkworks.com or follow the Department of Health on Facebook and Twitter.

About the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, founded in 1948 and now one of the top-ranked schools of public health in the United States, conducts research on public health and medical care that improves the lives of millions of people around the world. Pitt Public Health is a leader in devising new methods to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS, cancer and other important public health problems. For more information about Pitt Public Health, visit the school’s Web site at www.publichealth.pitt.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nate Wardle, Health, 717-787-1783 or ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov

# # #

 

 Content Editor

 PA.AgencyPortal.Media - MediaPageTitle