Bridge to the Beach wins Smart Communities Award

Bridge to the Beach at Chambers Creek Properties.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has awarded Pierce County a 2011 Smart Communities Award for enhancing the quality of life by building the Bridge to the Beach.

The pedestrian bridge, which opened in September 2010, provides safe public access to more than two miles of Puget Sound shoreline along the county-owned Chambers Creek Properties.

Pierce County was one of 12 communities recognized Wednesday, June 8, by Gov. Gregoire. The Governor’s Smart Communities Award Program highlights outstanding efforts to create quality communities through achieving the goals of the Growth Management Act and other community development objectives. A statewide panel of growth management and community development leaders reviewed the nominations and selected Pierce County’s Bridge to the Beach Project as the winner under the “Smart Partnerships – Development Project to Implement a Plan” category.

“I am proud of the investment that the local community and the State have made over the past 10 years to provide enhanced public access throughout the Chambers Creek Properties,” said Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. “The Bridge to the Beach project is a key reflection of this investment. This project offers a wonderful enhancement to the quality of life in the South Sound and it is an incredible asset to the citizens of Pierce County.”

The Public Development Division of Pierce County Public Works and Utilities is the award recipient, with special recognition of the 10 staff members who successfully delivered the project. The bridge, which stretches nearly 900 feet and peaks at 28 feet above busy railroad tracks, required three years of planning and 10 months of construction.

Click here to read Gov. Gregoire’s announcement: www.commerce.wa.gov/DesktopModules/CTEDNews/CTEDNewsView.aspx?tabID=0&ItemID=317&mid=840.

More information about the pedestrian bridge and Chambers Creek Properties can be found at www.piercecountywa.org/ccp.