Mayor Michael Nutter, State Senator Michael Stack, State Rep. John Taylor, Deputy Mayor Mike DiBerardinis, and former Congressman Bob Borski and other dignitaries joined board members and staff of the Delaware River City Corporation to cut the ribbon on the new 1.6 mile long Port Richmond Trail.
The trail, which is part of the East Coast Greenway, is the newest addition to the Delaware River greenway that is being constructed piece by piece by Bucks Countyk, DRCC, and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. It was constructed with TIGER funds that the City of Philadelphia and Camden won in 2010.
Press coverage was great and we tip our hats to Tom Branigan and others at DRCC for working so hard for bringing this project to fruition. Thanks also to Parks and Recreation, the Streets Department and the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities.
New Trail Connects Philly with wider East Coast network (WHYY)
Completed Port Richmond Trail Returns the River to its Neighbors (Philly.com and Plan Philly)
Riverfront Path Opens in Phila. (Philadelphia Inquirer & CBS3)
Other stories appeared in (iradio.com), the Public Record
Tomorrow, the Delaware River City Corporation and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for the 1.6 mile of the new Port Richmond Riverfront trail at Delaware and Allegheny Aves. This trail is part of the East Coast Greenway and was one of the 10 segments that received TIGER funding in 2010. Mayor Nutter and other dignataries will be in attendance.
Where: Pulaski Park, Delaware & Allegheny Avenues
When: October 29th at 2pm
With so much attention on waterfront development in Center City these days, the North Delaware seems lost in the conversation. But that doesn’t mean the stretch of waterfront real estate isn’t seeing its fair share of activity.
Thanks to the Delaware River City Corporation (DRCC)—the organization in charge of spearheading the North Delaware Greenway, an integral part of the much larger East Coast Greenway—trail and open space construction has taken off.
In 2008, the nonprofit’s efforts resulted in the creation of the Pennypack on the Delaware Trail, a paved trail connecting Pennypack Park to Pennypack Creek. Then, in October 2012, DRCC broke ground on the Port Richmond Trail, a 12-foot-wide, 1.5-mile asphalt trail that will connect the Port Richmond neighborhood to the waterfront and extend north along the Delaware. Completion is expected within a year.
Looking forward, the two-mile K&T Trail (planned for an abandoned riverfront freight rail line) is in its final design stage, with construction expected in the next two years. Also on the docket is the Baxter Trail, a two-mile northward extension of the trail from Pennypack Creek.
“By 2014, 60 percent of the Greenway will be built,” says DRCC Executive Director Tom Branigan.
There are still gaps in the 11-mile route that will be difficult to connect due to environmental issues, property rights or other constraints, but Branigan is confident that those lapses can be bridged and the North Delaware Greenway can be completed by 2020.
The DRCC also has an eye towards building even more meaningful connections between the waterfront to its adjacent neighborhoods. "Our ultimate mission is to connect the waterfront to neighborhoods and improve access," explains Branigan, who adds that those efforts won’t be able to take off until current projects are wrapped up.
Source: Tom Branigan, Executive Director, DRCC
Writer: Greg Meckstroth
Original Story here
One important piece of The Circuit opened to the public in the past few days, and another had its official groundbreaking.
On Saturday, the Connector Bridge crossing the tracks at Schuylkill River Park officially opened. On time and under budget, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has previously written extensively about the project.
The bridge opening gathered extensive press attention as well, from The Inquirer, the Daily Pennsylvanian, Flying Kite, and PlanPhilly.
On Monday, a new trail on Philadelphia's other river broke ground in Port Richmond. The aptly-named Port Richmond Trail will help connect people to the Delaware River and add more mileage onto the 250+ miles of bike/ped trail already built in The Circuit. U.S. Rep Allyson Schwartz, who helped secure the federal TIGER grant funding the project, attended the ceremony.
Media coverage for the groundbreaking included CBS 3-KYW, WHYY Newsworks, PlanPhilly, and the Abington Patch. The trail is expected to be completed by September 2013.
The Connector Bridge dedication ceremony is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Saturday, October 20th (rain or shine). The bridge promises to be a fantastic new access point to the Schuylkill River Trail and is the culmination of an eight year campaign to ensure at-grade and above-grade access to the Trail and Schuylkill Banks.
The 1:00 pm ceremony will be on the City side of the Bridge, at Schuylkill River Park (25th and Spruce Streets). Come early for the Fall Festivalthat starts at 11:00 am. If you want to be among the first to use the Bridge, come run (or volunteer) at the 8:00 am 5K Runnin on the River that is happening that morning. You can register online!
The Port Richmond Trail gets an official groundbreaking on Monday, October 22nd at 10am. (Note the date change!) Sponsored by the Delaware River City Corporation, this trail is the only TIGER project that is on the Delaware River. The speakers will make their remarks from within Pulaski Park, Delaware & Allegheny Avenues, and the shovel display for photo opportunities will be on Delaware Avenue, just north of the entrance to the park.