You are viewing 3 posts with the tag East Coast Greenway
EAST COAST GREENWAY TO CELEBRATE PHILADELPHIA’S LEADERSHIP IN TRAIL DEVELOPMENT AT SPRING SUMMIT: MAY 1
Philadelphia is the hosting the East Coast Greenway’s State of the Greenway Summit on Friday, May 1! The Summit, held at Lloyd Hall, 1 Boathouse Row, will celebrate Philadelphia as a leader in trail development, as well as several new world-class sections of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) here in the City.
The Summit will feature special remarks from regional and national bike-ped and transportation leaders, including:
- Leslie Richards, Secretary, PennDOT
- Mark Focht, Deputy Commissioner, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
- Diane Ellis-Marseglio, Commissioner, DVRPC
- Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director, East Coast Greenway Alliance
- Alex Doty, executive director, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
- Andrew Johnson, Watershed Protection Program Director, William Penn Foundation
- Meg Daly, founder, Friends of the Underline
When completed, the 2,900-mile greenway, which connects with the region’s Circuit trails, will link Philadelphia to major cities throughout the eastern seaboard. In PA, a car-free, 55-mile route runs from Trenton, N.J. to Wilmington, Del., through Center City Philadelphia.
Get your tickets today! Be sure to wear comfortable shoes to the Summit and take part in a walk along the Schuylkill River Trail to a reception at the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk after the Summit. The Summit and reception are open to the public; registration is $10 for ECGA members and $20 for non-members. To learn more or purchase tickets visit greenway.org.
Summit: 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Ride/Walk to reception: 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Reception at Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Lardner’s Point Park Wins Green Park Award
The Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society (PRPS) recently awarded Lardner’s Point Park the 2015 Green Park Award. Tom Branigan, Executive Director of the Delaware River City Corp., attended the luncheon earlier this week to accept the award. Other DRCC members in attendance were Jim Donaghy, Jim Fries, Mariann Dempsey and Patrick Starr. The luncheon was part of the PRPS 68th Annual State Conference.
The Green Park Award recognizes excellence in the public park community for those that demonstrate the integration of green and sustainable park practices based upon the following criteria: Site Location and Site Design, Water, Natural Landscaping, Materials Selection and Construction, Connect People to Nature, Operations and Maintenance, and Environmental Stewardship Messaging.
Lardner’s Point – recipient of the 2015 Green Park Award – is a major trailhead for the North Delaware Riverfront Greenway Trail, part of the Circuit. The park provides space to walk, bicycle, and relax along a very scenic stretch of the Delaware just below the iconic Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Visitors fish from the pier, picnic at handicap-accessible tables, observe wildlife, and traverse a multi-use path through native meadows.
Congratulations Lardner’s Point Park!
D&L Trail Alliance Maps Out Future Trail Openings
Scott Everett, Trails Manager for the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, recently issued a report that provided a look ahead at current and future projects to complete the 165 mile Delaware and Lehigh Trail. When the trail is complete it will connect the Wilkes Barre area of Northeast Pennsylvania with the East Coast Greenway in Bristol.
Several major gaps in the trail are being filled as we speak. In the Bucks County section of the D&L the first of the 5 barriers on the lower section of the trail is expected to go under construction. The Route 13 Tunnel construction project has been let (awarded to a contractor) and construction will begin in the next few months. A second tunnel project under the CSX Tracks south of Morrisville has been delayed because of funding and land ownership issues. Finally a third barrier, the trail design for the dangerous Route 13 crossing at Green Lane in Bristol Township, is currently undergoing a design review process by PENNDOT project managers. PENNDOT will construct the connection as part of the Route 13 Revitalization project.
Meanwhile to the north the D&L Heritage Corridor is frantically piecing together a continuous trail in Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon and Luzerne Counties. The pieces include:
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The 10 mile Black Diamond Trail is currently under construction and will connect the Lehigh Gorge terminous at White Haven to the appropriately-named Mountain Top at an elevation of 1700 feet. This will be the new northern terminus and should be completed this spring.
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A proposed pedestrian bridge just south of Jim Thorpe would connect the Lehigh Gorge section to the Lehigh Canal. The current construction estimate is in 2014.
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Completion of the Lehighton Trailhead in the Spring.
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A package of small connector projects which will fill in the remaining gaps in Carbon County.
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Upgrading the Freemansburg section of the Lehigh Canal in Northampton County from dirt and grass to crushed stone. Completion should arrive later this year.
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A short connecting trail between Hugh Moore Canal Park and the Palmer Township trail west of Easton.
