| Sandra Thomas |
| Vancouver Courier |
Last year I wrote a story about urban planner and former city councillor Alan Herbert's proposal to create pedestrian walking paths, similar to the bike routes already established, across the city.
Herbert has pushed the plan since 1999, and in 2001 the city launched his Silk Road Walking Route as a self-guided tour connecting Chinatown to Library Square.
Unfortunately, the second phase of that project never got off the ground--until now. Herbert created a 2.11-kilometre historic walk, The Steam Line, which starts at Marinaside Crescent at the east foot of Davie Street. The route takes participants past the steam train at the Roundhouse Community Centre, across Pacific Boulevard and down Mainland towards Gastown. Points of interest along the way include Victory Square, the Gastown steam clock and the Gassy Jack statue in Maple Tree Square.
The historic walk will be launched Monday to coincide with Move for Health Day, an international event sponsored locally by the park board and B.C. Recreation and Parks Association.
Last year, Herbert teamed with COPE park board commissioner Loretta Woodcock to plan similar walking projects, including one with a focus on seniors. Woodcock says Herbert's latest walk is a good fit for the park board's Step Out Walks program, which encourages the public to go for recreational walks to be more active. So far, the park board has mapped out almost 60 walks on a web page and added points of interest, a distance calculator and calorie burner. According to the website, if a 120-pound person spent 125 minutes walking 10 kilometres of the Stanley Park seawall, they'd burn 341 calories.
Woodcock and Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer have assembled a draft motion they plan to take to the park board and city this month asking for benches and signs along the Steam Line.
The Steam Line Move for Health Day walk starts at 1 p.m., May 10, from the east end of Davie Street at Marinaside.
