The WalkWorks program, a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, has selected Lehigh Valley Planning Commission in Lehigh County and 10 other 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 other 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; 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,” Carol L. Reichbaum, M.S.L., M.S.P.A., director of WalkWorks in Pitt Public Health’s Center for Public Health Practice, said. “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 pawalkworks.com or follow the Department of Health on Facebook and Twitter.