You are viewing 7 posts with the tag Cobbs Creek Trail
Philly Mag Shares Some of the Region’s Best Running Trails, Including Many on the Circuit
With the iconic Broad Street Run just a few weeks away, Philly Mag shared some of the best running trails and parks in the Philadelphia area and beyond, and several Circuit trails made the recommended list! Trails with spectacular views included the Ben Franklin Bridge, Boxers’ Trail, Cobbs Creek Trail, Cynwyd Heritage Trail, Wissahickon Trail, Tyler State Park, Valley Forge Historic National Park, Schuylkill River Trail, and Cooper River Park. Go to Philly Mag to see the full list of trails and parks to take advantage of while the weather is warming up!
Take a Ride on the Circuit During National Trails Month
In celebration of National Trail Month, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council will be hosting several guided trail rides during the month of June. Tickets for each event range from $10 to $18, depending on the particular event and time of purchase, and include a post-ride lunch. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.facebook.com/pecnationaltrailmonth.
Sunday June 8, 2014, 8:30 AM to 1 PM: Cooper River Trail Ride
Saturday, June 14, 2014, 10 AM to 2 PM: Schuylkill River Trail Ride
Saturday, June 21, 2014, 8:30 AM to 2 PM: 202 Parkway Trail Ride
Saturday, June 28, 2014, 10 AM to 1 PM: Cobbs Creek Trail Walk (on foot)
You can also explore the Circuit with the Bicycle Coalition during Trails Month on these two rides:
Friday, June 20th, Longest Day of the Year Ride
Saturday, June 29th, Petty's Island Ride
These two rides are Bicycle Coalition members only events. Not a member of the Bicycle Coalition? You can join for a special rate of $20 by registering for a ride.
More rides and walks are planned for August through November. Check them out here.
Celebrate National Trail Month with a trail ride hosted by PEC!
In celebration of National Trail Month, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council will be hosting several guided trail rides during the month of June. Tickets for each event range from $10 to $18, depending on the particular event and time of purchase, and include a post-ride lunch. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.facebook.com/pecnationaltrailmonth.
Sunday June 8, 2014, 8:30 AM to 1 PM: Cooper River Trail Ride
Saturday, June 14, 2014, 10 AM to 2 PM: Schuylkill River Trail Ride
Saturday, June 21, 2014, 8:30 AM to 2 PM: 202 Parkway Trail Ride
Saturday, June 28, 2014, 10 AM to 1 PM: Cobbs Creek Trail Walk (on foot)
DVRPC Approves $3.9 Million for Circuit Trails
On Thursday, September 26th, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) Board approved 13 projects for funding from the final phase of the Regional Trail Program, which was created and funded by a $10 million grant from the William Penn Foundation.
The Regional Trail Program aims to provide funding for targeted, priority trail design, construction and planning projects that will promote a truly connected, regional network of multi-use trails (the Circuit) with Philadelphia and Camden as its hub.
Phase III of the program provided capital funding for trail design and construction projects. Approximately $4 million was available for Phase III grants. Individual grant awards are capped at $500,000 and all projects require a 20 percent match. A Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued in March and 31 proposals were submitted by the deadline in mid-April. The proposals were evaluated by a Selection Committee composed of Foundation representatives, PennDOT and NJDOT, DVRPC staff, and regional trail funders and advocates.
Based on Committee review and subsequent follow-up, the following 13 projects were recommended for funding and approved on Thursday by the DVRPC Board.
- Kinkora Trail - Mansfield Community Park Connector – Burlington County, Department of Resource Conservation – Grant request: $500,000 Total project cost: $1,440,000
- Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway Bicycle and Pedestrian Ramp – DRPA – Grant request: $400,000 Total project cost: $3,600,000
- Lawrence Hopewell Trail Carter Road East and West – Lawrence Hopewell Trail Corporation – Grant request: $250,000 Total project cost: $625,000
- Route 13-Green Lane Trail Connector – Bucks County TMA – Grant request: $249,000 Total project cost: $917,679
- Neshaminy Creek Greenway Design and Engineering (Chalfont and New Britain) – Chalfont Borough – Grant request: $188,768 Total project cost: $235,960
- Phoenixville Schuylkill River Trail Phase 2 – Phoenixville Borough – Grant request: $365,000 Total project cost: $457,000
- Darby Creek Stream Valley Park Trail – Delaware County – Grant request: $500,000 Total project cost: $700,000
- Newtown Square Rail Trail (Haverford) – Haverford Township – Grant request: $340,000 Total project cost: $425,000
- Tookany Creek Trail - Phase III – Cheltenham Township – Grant request: $400,000 Total project cost: $500,000
- Lansdale Liberty Bell Trail – Lansdale Borough – Grant request: $160,840 Total project cost: $201,050
- Tacony/Holmesburg Gap Waterfront Trail Design and Engineering – DRCC – Grant request: $300,000 Total project cost: $500,000
- Manayunk Bridge Trail Construction Engineering Services – Philadelphia - MOTU – Grant request: $60,000 Total project cost: $3,060,000
- Cobbs Creek Connector Trail – Philadelphia Parks and Recreation – Grant request: $275,000 Total project cost: $595,000
Total grant request amount for all 13 Phase III projects is $3,988,608. The total match amount is $9,318,081 and the total cost of all the projects is $13,306,149.
Phase III represents the final amount of funding available from this program. Future funding depends on the DVRPC board. This is why the Circuit Coalition currently is running the Circuit Committment campaign, seeking a decision from the DVRPC Board to replenish the fund with $10 Milion over a three year period.
Staycation: Making a day trip of the Cobbs Creek Parkway (PlanPhilly)
From the Eyes on the Street blog of Planphilly.com (August 30, 2013)
As part of a summer “Staycation” series, Eyes on the Street is profiling outdoor getaways that Philadelphians can explore without having to go too far.
Summer is winding down, and overbearing humidity and heat waves will soon give way to the crisp kind of fall weather that draws people outside, away from their air conditioners and into the fresh air. While the Schuylkill River Trail, Kelly Drive, and MLK Drive might fill up on a nice fall Saturday or Sunday, Cobbs Creek Trail provides a paved, off-road bike and pedestrian trail that fewer people know about.
The smooth, paved trail rolls along Cobbs Creek Park, following the Cobbs Creek Parkway for most of its route. As a parkside trail, the Cobbs Creek Trail has plenty of shade and natural beauty. Steve Taylor, Community Liaison at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said the trail can feel 10 degrees cooler than bike lanes in the city.
"I would certainly recommend it as a place to go and relax on the weekends," said Jeannette Brugger, a planner at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission who managed the Philadelphia Trail Master Plan. "You can easily make a day trip out of it," she said.
Today the trail extends from around 63rd Street Station at 63rd and Market streets, south along Cobbs Creek Parkway to 70th Street. In that span the trail passes the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center,Laura Sims SkateHouse in Cobbs Creek Park (an ice skating rink with both adult and youth hockey programs), Mount Moriah Cemetery, multiple playgrounds, tennis courts and areas to sit just off the trail in Cobbs Creek Park.
"It's a pretty straight forward trip," said Rob Armstrong, preservation and capital projects manager at Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. "It's paved. It's very easy to ride, [and] it's safe."
"There's a really nice, unpaved part of Cobbs Creek Trail that is through the woods," Brugger said. "It's a beautiful path and people don't know much about it."
In total there are about two miles of unpaved trails through Cobbs Creek Park. Some are better maintained than others though, and Armstrong cautioned that most of trails are not appropriate for road bikes. Sections of those trails provide quiet hiking areas along the creek itself and access to a variety of wildlife that Barbara McCabe, director of stewardship at Parks & Rec, said most people probably are not aware of.
"I don't think people realize how easily they can escape the city by getting onto that trail," McCabe said. "When you're out there, you really feel you are not in an urban setting."
COBBS CREEK AS A CONNECTOR
One prize feature of the Cobbs Creek Trail is that it is a unique connector with potential to link the city with outlying towns in Delaware County, just across the creek.
"There's a foot bridge over the creek, and you're in Delaware County, which you don't really think of being able to walk to," Brugger said.
The Cobbs Creek Trail is part of the East Coast Greenway, an in-the-works recreational trail that will extend from Maine to Florida, and it links with several city bike lanes, like those on Market and Spruce streets. It also ties into the recently opened 58th Street Greenway, which links the Cobbs Creek Trail to Bartram's Garden and provides access to the rest of the city by way of the Grays Ferry Bridge.
"When you get on the trail, you're not going to be in a vacuum, you'll be able to make key connections," Brugger said.
These connections help support Cobbs Creek Trail as a day trip destination, and there are plans in the works that could take a day trip along the trail to the next level. The Clean Air Council and Parks & Rec are in the process of planning theCobbs Creek Connector Project. If all goes as intended, this will extend Cobbs Creek Trail from its current dead end around 70th Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway to the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, which boasts 10 miles of its own bicycle and hiking trails in addition to plenty of day trip worthy nature and wildlife access.
The first phase of that extension is already through the preliminary feasibility stage. Now Parks & Rec and the Clean Air Council are heading toward final design and hope to begin construction as soon as possible. Armstrong said the connector project is a priority for the city.
"I think it'll add to the region's growing trail network," said Nick Rogers, transportation coordinator at the Clean Air Council. "There are trails like this being built all over the place, and the more smaller projects that get built and integrated, the better resource this is going to be to everyone in the region."
COBBS CREEK 5K
On October 12 the Friends of Cobbs Creek will host the third annual Cobbs Creek 5K, which will use a portion of the Cobbs Creek Trail as its course.
"It was started with the goal to get people into the park, using the trail and just seeing how beautiful it is," McCabe said.
Any funding the 5K raises will go toward programming in the park. "We'd like to build a better program base to get people out into the park and realize what a beautiful asset it is," McCabe said.
Parks & Rec has been working in phases to engage the community around the park. The first phase of building community engagement was working with local police to make sure citizens concerned with safety, illicit activity or dumping in the park could raise those concerns and have them addressed by police. Now in the second phase of community engagement, Parks & Rec is working with the Friends of Cobbs Creek to develop programming like the 5K and a potential movie night.
"I think the more events take place, we'll see more of a rise in engagement," said Felicia Parker-Cox, community organizer for the Office of the Deputy Mayor and Parks & Rec.
For those interested in exploring the Cobbs Creek Trail for the first time, the 5K might be an ideal opportunity.
"Safety is always a concern of people in any trail, so having these type of organized events [people] feel a little more at ease going into the trail because you're out there with a lot of other people," McCabe said.
Registration for the 5K is now open. Anyone interested in volunteering the day of the race can contact Parker-Cox at 215.683.3605 or [email protected].
Cobbs Creek Design & Engineering RFP Available
Clean Air Council invites responses to this Request for Proposals to perform Final Design and Engineering on a short section of the Cobbs Creek Connector Trail. This segment stretches from the existing southern terminus of the Cobbs Creek Bikeway at 70th Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway, to the just south of the CSX Bridge, including the crossing underneath the bridge.
Please note there is a mandatory pre-proposal meeting on Thursday, September 12th.
Any questions please email Nick Rogers ()
The Request for Proposals can be found at the following link:
For reference, the 2012 completed Conceptual Design and Alternatives Analysis can also be found on our website here:
Nature Bike Club for Teenagers This Summer At Cobbs Creek Park
A new program in Cobbs Creek Park this summer offers kids ages 11-17 a program combining bicycling and nature. It's called Nature Bike Club (of course). Sessions are a week long and the program runs from July 9th until August 17th.
Nature Bike Club
July 9th - August 17th
Location: Cobbs Creek Environmental Center (63rd & Spruce St, Philadelphia PA)
For ages 11-17
Schedule:
Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00- 7:00pm, light dinner provided
Fridays 9:00am- 12:00pm
On the evening sessions participants are engaged in nature themed activities and then taught fundamentals of bicycle saftey and maintenance. On Fridays we will be doing a ride though Cobbs Creek park or to Heinz Wildlife Refuge and other locations of ecological interest.
Fee: $10 per week
Contact: Cobbs Creek Recreation Center 215-695-1983
Hosted by: Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Cobbs Creek Environmental Center, Neighborhood Bike Works & Philadelphia Water Department.
