July 3, 2024, Friends of Tide to Town and the City of Savannah held groundbreaking ceremonies for the final leg of the Truman Linear Park Trail on Monday, July 1. The event took place at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Costa Rica and E. 58th streets, in front of the Holly Heights Community Garden.

“It was exciting to turn dirt on this final three-mile section of the trail project,” said Armand Turner, Healthy Savannah’s physical activity program manager and Friends of Tide to Town board president. “Once completed, the total connected pathway will be approximately 9 miles and will offer more opportunities for safe, healthy and stress-free pedestrian and bicycle access for many of Savannah’s minority and underserved neighborhoods.” 

Healthy Savannah recently conducted a landscape assessment on the state of physical activity in Savannah and Chatham, gathering community feedback and assessments and observational measures, as well as input from groups including the Faith & Health Coalition and government partners. The ongoing assessment has shown that better access to City and County parks is a major opportunity and can be improved through various practices specific to the neighborhoods where underserved parks exist.

Healthy Savannah’s 2023 community survey findings further revealed that a majority of respondents answering questions about physical activity indicated they would use bike or walking paths such as the Tide to Town urban trail system to get to work, school and shopping or for recreation. This is 10% higher than last year’s responses and could be attributed to increased education about physical activity, programs like the weekly Healthy Walks and initiatives like Active People Healthy Savannah, and infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and sidewalks.

Turner also recently discussed these findings at the 4th Annual Placemaking Week Conference in Baltimore, as well as at the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists’ 2024 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. Both events were held in June.

The first three miles of the Truman Trail were completed in 2020. This was the first segment of the larger Tide to Town urban trail network to be finished and extends from DeRenne Avenue south to Lake Mayer Community Park. Including the Lake Mayer Loop Path, the 4.5-mile stretch is a concrete multi-use path, with a timber boardwalk section and two bridges, providing an ADA accessible, off-road path for recreational and transportation use. It features lighting for nighttime use, security cameras, and emergency call boxes.

The final phase of the Truman will extend north from DeRenne Avenue and connect to the Police Memorial Trail, via 52nd Street. Construction will be managed by the City of Savannah.

Last year, the City awarded $10 million for the Tide to Town initiative, drawing on the anticipated income generated by the increase in Savannah’s hotel/motel taxes. The funds helped finance the planning and engineering of this project and the Middleground Road corridor located on Savannah’s south side.

Turner says this funding represents the largest commitment to non-motorized mobility in the city’s history.

When fully constructed, the Truman Trail will be approximately 6 miles long and will link 827 acres of existing parkland in Chatham County by connecting Lake Mayer to Daffin Park. Including the Daffin Park trail loop and the Lake Mayer trail loop, the total connected pathway will be approximately 9 miles 

Tide To Town, Savannah’s Urban Trail System, will be a protected network of walking and bicycling trails connecting all of Savannah’s neighborhoods, from the heart of the city to its marshes and waterways. The core of the trail system is a 30-mile route that encircles the City. Additional miles of connector paths will link priority neighborhoods as the system grows. Spur trails to popular destinations will also be added as the system expands outside of the City of Savannah. 

“Overall, the Tide to Town trail project will link 75% of Savannah’s neighborhoods to safe walking and biking infrastructure when completed,” said Paula Kreissler, Healthy Savannah’s executive director and Tide to Town vice chair. “The project will also benefit from the $37 million allocated to restore the Historic Waterworks Building in west Savannah, since that project includes trails and sidewalks for the westside neighborhoods and links them into Tide to Town.”

Kreissler and Turner also recently joined Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Billy Jamerson III of the Bike Walk Savannah board to meet with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

“We discussed the Tide To Town Trail and health equity in Savannah and shared significant efforts and achievements in our community,” said Turner. “It was truly remarkable for these initiatives to be recognized by the King and Queen. They showed great interest in our pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.”

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Kreissler and Turner shared Tide To Town hats, shirts, and water bottles with community members.

 The Friends of Tide to Town is a network of local partners that includes the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah as administrators of the Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. REACH Grant staff have conducted community outreach across various neighborhoods in Savannah, gathering feedback on the current need for increased pedestrian safety. For more details please visit the https://tidetotown.org/.