KANNAPOLIS – The city of Kannapolis and the Cabarrus Health Alliance are partnering to use $45,000 in grant funds to create plans for improving walking and biking connectivity in downtown Kannapolis.

The grant funds will look at ways to connect Village Park to the new City Hall, the North Carolina Research Campus to the downtown core, the Train Station and Veterans Park. The city will work with Stewart, Inc. to determine the best routes for walking and biking routes and recommendations on the cost for construction of these routes.

These areas in the downtown already attract a number of people who are walking and biking, but the city believes better connectivity will result in more people choosing the downtown area for exercise, or choosing to walk rather than drive to downtown area destinations.

The city and the Cabarrus Health Alliance want to develop connectivity throughout the downtown core in order to encourage healthy lifestyles and decrease chronic diseases and obesity. The City Council is expected to see the plan in 2016.

The funds are from a three-year grant the Cabarrus Health Alliance received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to focus on reducing health disparities among African American and Hispanic populations in Cabarrus County.