PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Pierce County leaders are asking for input on how to improve parks, open spaces and recreation options.
The county is taking online comment to help form its Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan which is updated every six years and plans forward for the next 15 to 20 years.
KING 5 went to Seeley Lake Park in Lakewood and Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place to see what Pierce County residents like most about their county parks and what they would like to see improved.
“I've been in Pierce County for 50 years and this is the most beautiful place and the parks are excellent,” said Nancy Huseman, a Pierce County resident.
Huseman goes walking every day and appreciates all the trails but has a few things she thinks could be improved when it comes to safety, accessibility and playgrounds.
“I would like to see better lighting on the trails and maybe more access to people with disabilities. I don't know what that would look like, possibly some rails that are going downhill, things like that,” said Huseman. “I would like to see more play areas for kids. I have nine grandkids, and we go to the park all the time, the one in Fort Steilacoom, and I'd like to see them in all the parks, a little activity for children would be good.”
Other park-goers say they enjoy having playgrounds for their kids, and also appreciate Pierce County investing in mountain bike parks.
“I really like a lot of the mountain biking trails and things that they've done and the focus they have put on that, that’s been great,” said Daniel Lacrosse, a Pierce County resident.
Lacrosse said he is also a road biker and would like to see the walking and biking trails be better connected to allow for more distance.
“They're so close to being interconnected, if we could interconnect them and just have a safe place for people to walk around and ride, that would be great,” said Lacrosse.
Pierce County is taking online public input until Sunday, Sept. 15.