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PennDOT Announces Funding For Trail, Environmental Projects To Support Transportation Alternatives

Gov. Tom Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards Tuesday announced the approval of funding for 82 projects to improve transportation alternatives and enhance mobility and public accessibility across the Commonwealth.

"Building for the future includes improving access to a variety of transportation options and these investments will promote safety and mobility for communities across Pennsylvania,” Gov. Wolf said.

The administration awarded $66.8 million through the Surface Transportation Block Grant program Set-Aside or Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside.

The Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.

"Our citizens are taking advantage of an array of trails and improvements that enhance the state’s quality of life, and these new investments will build on our successes in making Pennsylvania an attractive place to live and work,” Richards added.

Among the trail and environmental improvement projects were--

-- Bedford: Broad Top Township - $246,152 for construction of a two-mile extension to the existing H&BT Rail Trail from the Riddlesburg trailhead, north towards the Warriors Path State Park in Saxton.

-- Blair: Antis Township - $875,780 for the construction of a hike/bike trail along the right-of-way of the former Logan Valley Streetcar Line.

-- Bucks--

-- Solebury Township - $1,000,000 to build the next segment of the Route 202 Cross-County Trail within the Aquetong Park boundaries.

-- Doylestown Township - $985,000 for construction of a 0.8-mile trail along Shady Retreat and Burpee Roads that will connect several neighborhoods to the Doyle Elementary School, Lenape Middle School and Central Bucks West High Schools.

-- Lower Makefield Township - $700,000 for 3,500 linear feet of 10’ multi-use trail that will connect the existing trail to several township facilities, parks and schools.

-- Carbon: Carbon County - $403,986 to connect the Delaware & Lehigh Trail from the northern trailhead to the new pedestrian bridge south of the Carbon County Parking Lot with a safe delineated travel path along the Lehigh River.

-- Clinton: Clinton County - $1,087,197 to build a critical phase of the 11-mile Clinton County Rail Trail that connects five Clinton County municipalities to the Lycoming County border, and ultimately to the Jersey Shore trailhead of the Pine Creek Rail Trail.

-- Crawford: Pymatuning State Park - $958,461 to improve and extend the Pymatuning State Park Spillway Rail Trail nearly four miles, resulting in safe visitor access to park visitor centers, schools, and connection with the PA Route 6 and Bicycle PA Route Y near Linesville.

-- Delaware--

-- Media Borough - $400,000 for a stormwater parkette to reduce flooding in north Media through collection and infiltration of stormwater, making streets and sidewalks safer and improving the local water quality.

-- Concord Township - $1,163,000 for construction of Phase 1A of the multimodal Octoraro Trail in Concord and Chadds Ford Townships from State Route 202 to Temple Road.

-- Chadds Ford Township - $1,000,000 for development of a multi-modal trail extending from the Township Municipal Complex on the south side of U.S. Route 1 to the Village of Chadds Ford at South Creek Road and Station Way Road/North Creek Road.

-- Erie: $250,000 to add bike lanes, crosswalks, and a way-finding signage system throughout the city's trail network.

-- Forest: Jenks Township - $1,196,169 to construct a six-mile segment of trail and a trail hub that will serve cyclists, snowmobiles and equestrians. The project will provide a link to several trails, including the North Country Trail, Knox to Kane Trail, and the Allegheny National Forest trail system.

-- Indiana: Indiana County - $310,495 for trail surface, base and drainage improvements to the Hoodlebug Trail from Saylor Park to north of Homer City.

-- Lackawanna--

-- Keystone College - $917,815 to provide pedestrians and bicyclists a safe route to travel along College Road and a connection to the seven miles of public trails in the area of the college campus.

-- Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority - $200,000 to construct a 0.9-mile paved trail from Parker Street in Scranton to Boulevard Avenue in Dickson City, closing a major gap of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. This funding supplements a $800,000 TA Set-Aside award from the Lackawanna and Luzerne Transportation Study MPO.

-- Scranton - $1,000,000 to connect the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail to the Steamtown National Historic Site and the city of Scranton with a pedestrian bridge.

-- Dickson City - $991,110 for streetscaping, safety improvements, and a bike path connecting to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail.

-- Lancaster: Manor Township - $3,000,000 to rehabilitate the Safe Harbor Trestle Bridge, built in 1905, to a functional state to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic and connect two currently separate sections of the Enola Low Grade Rail Trail.

-- Lawrence: Shenango Township - $920,000 to construct a dedicated trail lane for North Country Trail users along Sankey Hill Road.

-- Lebanon--

-- Lebanon School District - $742,000 to construct new pedestrian/bicycle paths, sidewalks, signage, ADA curb ramps, crosswalks, lighting and school crossing improvements near Northwest Elementary School.

-- Lebanon County - $964,000 to construct a multi-use trail in the City of Lebanon from 16th Street at the west end of the John E. Wengert Memorial Park to 22nd Street at the eastern end of Gloninger Woods Park in North Cornwall Township.

-- Lehigh: Lehigh County - $838,188 for construction of a trail to close a 1.45-mile trail gap along the Delaware & Lehigh Trail from the Lehigh and Northampton County line to Hanover Township's Canal Park on the old canal towpath.

-- Lycoming--

-- Loyalsock Township - $682,000 to construct a paved greenway to connect Bruce Henry Park and its surrounding residential areas in Loyalsock Township to the existing Susquehanna Bikeway and Riverwalk.

-- River Valley Transit (Williamsport) - $1,000,000 to construct the Willow Street Green Infrastructure Pathway Project in the city of Williamsport, providing an improved transportation route for pedestrians and cyclists.

-- Montgomery: Whitpain Township - $641,552 for construction of a 0.7-mile key portion of the Whitpain Trail network.

-- Montour: Borough of Danville - $620,629 for construction of one mile of paved pedestrian and bicycle trail atop the Hospital Run and the Upper Susquehanna levees as part of the North Branch Canal Trail system.

-- Philadelphia--

-- $300,000 for installation of a traffic signal, pedestrian countdown timers, line striping, and sidewalks along a curb extension created by the Philadelphia Water Department's proposed rain garden in an underutilized section of the cartway.

-- $1,000,000 to rehabilitate a severely deteriorated portion of the Manayunk Canal in Philadelphia, preserving an important historic transportation structure and mitigating potential safety issues.

-- Somerset: Redevelopment Authority of Somerset County - $1,200,000 for Phase II-A of the Berlin Revitalization Project, including sidewalks, curbs, streetscapes along a portion of the September 11th National Memorial Trail.

-- Susquehanna: Lanesboro Borough - $1,358,920 for improvements, including drainage, resurfacing, and access control, along a 5.5-mile section of the D&H Rail Trail from Brandt to the New York border.

-- Tioga--

-- Tioga County - $1,500,000 to extend the Pine Creek Rail Trail three miles to the west of Wellsboro, thereby closing a trail gap, promoting tourism, and increasing economic activity.

Union

-- Borough of Lewisburg - $1,000,000 to restore Bull Run's natural floodplain, daylight stormwater and extend the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail to Bucknell University.

-- Westmoreland: Derry Township Municipal Authority - $1,000,000 to construct a trail that will extend from Keystone State Park in Derry Township to the New Alexandria Borough Municipal Park.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

For more information on trails in Pennsylvania, visit the Explore PA Trails website.

(Photo: Delaware & Lehigh Trail.)

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