Meeting to explain Heritage Tour Route and National Scenic Byway programs

PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County Public Works is hosting a meeting to gather stakeholders and continue the bid to designate the Mosquito Fleet Trail as a Heritage Tour Route through the National Scenic Byways program. Designation through this program provides assistance through grants and helps develop and promote the route.

When: Tuesday, December 5, 2006,
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Where: Island Lake – John Horsley Community Center

Who:
Grant Griffin, Executive Director, Kitsap Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau
Bill Zupancic, Transportation Planner, Kitsap County Public Works
Terry Reckord, Macleod Reckord Landscape Architecture
Bob Ulsh, Local Mossquito Fleet Historian
Representatives from Washington State Department of Transportation

Bill Zupancic provides an overview of the designation process, Grant Griffin explains the marketing strategies used to promote a Heritage Tour Route, and Terry Reckord gives the specific requirements needed for a Heritage Tour Route designation.

The National Scenic Byways program is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Program is a grass-roots collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States. The program was established in 1991. Since then, the National Scenic Byways Program provided almost $300,000,000 for 1,665 byway projects, State or nationally designated, in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

An on-line questionnaire/blog has been established to seek input from county residents concerning the designation of the Mosquito Fleet Trail as a Heritage Tour Route through the State Scenic Byways Program. Take the survey at the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau website.

Mosquito Fleet Trail survey