Bike Program, Walking Trails Earn Grants

The AARP Community Challenge grant program singled out three Alaska projects to help residents stay fit and active by enhancing bicycle and pedestrian safety.

The nonprofit Bike Anchorage won funding to purchase a trailer and fill it with rubber bricks, traffic cones, signs and other materials. These materials are used to create pop-up safety features, such as roundabouts and bike-friendly infrastructure.

Also in Anchorage, a grant went to the Cook Inlet Housing Authority to develop an appealing walking trail connecting senior and family housing to schools, shops and parks.

In Homer, the nonprofit Kachemak Heritage Land Trust will use its award to improve a walking trail, with kiosks and signs for visually impaired people, at Poopdeck Platt Park in the center of town.