With funding from St. Luke’s Foundation, Vitruvian Planning and the Eagle (Idaho) Parks and Recreation Department conducted an HIA to understand how the city’s Pathways and Trails Plan might influence the health of area residents.
Recommendations
- Focus on areas with the highest socio-economic need for bicycle paths, pedestrian trails, and accessible green spaces when selecting sites for the first projects.
- Ensure that future developments include appropriate sidewalks, pathways, easements, and connections to the greater trail network.
- Tailor programming such as bike clinics, safety campaigns, horseback rides, and promotional events to the characteristics and health priorities of nearby residents.
- Explore the trail system’s potential to improve access to health care, food outlets, community gardens, and healthy housing.
- Enhance isolated trail segments by incorporating features such as water stations, shade trees, and sunblock stations and ensure cellphone service for emergency communication.
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This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
