Gov. Inslee honors Tacoma, UWT for Prairie Line Trail partnership

June 15, 2015 3:22 pm
Tags: , , ,
Gov. Inslee honors Tacoma, UWT for Prairie Line Trail partnership

The City of Tacoma has earned a 2015 Governor’s Smart Communities Award for its work to develop the Prairie Line Trail through UWT’s downtown campus.

The City earned the award in the Smart Partnerships category for its collaboration with UWT over the past decade to transform this one-mile historic railroad corridor through downtown Tacoma into a signature public space linking the Brewery District, UWT campus, and the waterfront. Though work remains to be done, the completion of the UWT campus segment last year and the Pacific Avenue-to-waterfront segment coming soon, the award recognizes substantial progress that has been made so far in bringing the vision for the Prairie Line Trail closer to reality.

The City of Tacoma and the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) have earned a 2015 Governor's Smart Communities Award for their work to develop the Prairie Line Trail through UWT's downtown campus. (FILE PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)
The City of Tacoma and the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) have earned a 2015 Governor’s Smart Communities Award for their work to develop the Prairie Line Trail through UWT’s downtown campus. (FILE PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)

The award will be presented on Fri., June 26, during the Association of Washington Cities Annual Conference in Wenatchee. In total, six cities and one county in Washington State received awards:

061515_GOV_SMART_COMMUNTIES_A_WEB

Two City of Tacoma projects were also nominated for awards this year – the Chinese Reconciliation Park and the Hilltop Subarea Plan and Planned Action EIS.

“These forward-thinking projects help create and sustain a thriving economic climate and strengthen our ability to lead in the global economy,” said Gov. Inslee. “Washington is a great state in which to live, work, and play thanks to visionary leadership in our local communities such as those we celebrate today.”

Past Tacoma and Pierce County award recipients include the City of Tacoma – South Downtown Subarea Plan (2014); Port of Tacoma and City of Tacoma – Interlocal Agreement for Shoreline Public Access Provision (2014); Town of Wilkeson – Rural Town Center Corridor Plan (2013); Pierce County – Bridge To The Beach Project (2011); City of Tacoma – Mixed-use Centers Update Project (2010); City of Puyallup – Puyallup Civic Center Project (2009); City of Sumner – Town Center Implementation Project (2008); and Tacoma Housing Authority – Salishan Hope VI Redevelopment Project (2007).

According to the Washington State Department of Commerce, the Governor’s Smart Communities Award Program recognizes outstanding efforts of local communities and their partners throughout the state to create quality communities through achieving the goals of the Growth Management Act and other community development objectives. The awards have been an annual event since 2006.

More information is available online here.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index’s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Prairie Line Trail, click on the following links:

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Governor’s Smart Communities Award Program, click on the following links:

Tags: , , ,