Tide to Town will consist of nearly 30 miles of protected walking and bicycling trails throughout Savannah — from downtown to our marshes and waterways!
People across Georgia are enjoying the many benefits of paved trails. Savannah has a major opportunity to create the state’s most used and beloved trails system: Tide To Town.
Tide To Town, Savannah’s Urban Trail System, will be a protected network of walking and bicycling trails connecting all of Savannah’s neighborhoods, from the heart of the city to our marshes and waterways. Tide To Town will serve every aldermanic district within the City of Savannah, with the potential to expand to unincorporated Chatham County, Tybee Island, Garden City, Thunderbolt, Bloomingdale, and Port Wentworth, integrating with long distance walking and bicycling trails like the East Coast Greenway.
Tide to Town will address an urgent public safety issue and will be designed with the entire community in mind. Georgia ranks as the sixth most dangerous state for people walking, and Savannah is one of the most dangerous cities within the state for crashes between drivers and people walking or bicycling. The paved trails and on-street sections of the network will create a safe, stress-free place to walk, jog, skate or bicycle. Residents aged eight years old to eighty years old will feel comfortable using the system, all of which will be separated from car and truck traffic.
Tide To Town will link together existing and planned projects, including the Truman Linear Park Trail, which opened in November 2020. The core of the system is a 30-mile route that encircles the City. Additional miles of connector paths will connect to priority neighborhoods as the system grows. Spur trails to popular destinations will also be added as the system expands outside of the City of Savannah.
Tide To Town is affordable, cost-effective, and will spur long term economic development. The system maximizes existing public rights-of-way along streets and canals, which significantly reduces the cost of implementation. Reliable data from Georgia and other states show that paved trail systems provide a four-to-one return on investment for the community and can double that return when designed according to best practices.
The Tide To Town vision is directly aligned with the City of Savannah’s Strategic Plan, which states that “By 2023… 75 percent of neighborhoods [will be] connected to walking and biking infrastructure (i.e.: trails).” Tide to Town will also meet the strong demand for trails in Chatham County. A 2018 survey by Chatham Parks and Recreations found that the most desired amenities are paved trails and paths. It is important to know that communities like Columbus, Carrollton, and Athens have made significant progress on similar projects.
Tide to Town is focused on serving Savannah neighborhoods most in need of safety improvements. The system will provide priority access for low-income and minority neighborhoods, connecting homes to schools, employment centers, and services.
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The Friends of Tide to Town coalition formed in 2017 to lead the development of Tide to Town.