Hal Schirmer
Sun, 04 Aug 2002 05:09:44 -0700
Here's a recent Norristown local paper story about the proposed trail/bike path from Norristown to Quakertown Area That would put Norristown at the center of 4 biketrails/greenways first, Schuylkill River Trail south to philadelphia second Schuylkill Rivertrail/Perkiomen Trail North to Green Lane(with a continuation of the Schuylkill River trail out to Pottstown eventualy) third, Chester Cross County trail west through Bridgeport, King of Prussia into Chester County fourth, the liberty bell trail northeast, out to Lansdale and Quakertown (this is seperate from the proposed re-activation of the Stony Creek RR from Norristown to Lansdale and Quakertwon... Fyi, there are good images of the old trolley network around Montgomery County at http://www.phillytrolley.org/montcomap.html some of the abandoned trolley routes still make reasonable on road bike routes, since they tend to be a little wider, tend to have a smoother grade... Hal Schirmer >>>>>> Study to examine feasibility of trail BETH COHEN , Staff Writer 08/04/2002 NORRISTOWN - Montgomery County planners and the North Penn Regional Improvement Association want to find out if it is possible to build a continuous 25-mile multiuse trail that runs from East Norriton to Richland in Bucks County along the former Liberty Bell trolley line. Planners know that the $52,000 feasibility study might reveal that the chances for a continuous trail have been hampered by development that has eaten up open space since the trolley line stopped running in 1951. But they remain optimistic. "I think it's likely something would be done, and the study may in fact find that a continuous 25-mile trail could be built," said Curtis Bish, a senior planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission. Portions of the Liberty Bell Trail already have been built in Hatfield Borough and in Perkasie. Hatfield Borough Manager Geoffrey Thompson said the borough's quarter-mile section of the trail, which was built in 2000, runs parallel to the railroad tracks from East Vine Street at Butler Avenue, along South Main Street, and to Lincoln Avenue near Debil's Restaurant. "A lot of people use it for a shortcut to get into town," Thompson said. He said he views the continuation of the trail through the rest of the borough and into a neighboring communities as a way to boost prosperity. "Since it would go through our downtown area, we would be getting more people in town," Thompson said. "It's also another way to connect the borough with other towns to provide another avenue to get from place to place." Hatfield Borough paid for its $50,000 gritty sandstone trail using borough funds plus a $25,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The DCNR also is helping to provide $30,000 in a Rails-To-Trails grant for the feasibility study, Bish said. The rest of the money for the study is being raised through $3,000 pledges from each of the 16 municipalities along the old Liberty Bell line. Nine of the municipalities are in Montgomery County and six are in Bucks County. They are: East Norriton, Whitpain, Upper Gwynedd, Lansdale, Hatfield Township, Hatfield Borough, Franconia, Souderton, West Rockhill, Hilltown, Sellersville, Perkasie, East Rockhill, Richland, Quakertown and Telford. The Liberty Bell Trail is recommended in Montgomery County's open space plan, which was adopted in 1996, Bish said. "We envision the Liberty Bell Trail as being a regionally important recreation and transportation resource," he said. "It will be a place where people of all ages will be able to go to bicycle, walk, and perhaps to in-line skate." Planners have named the trail after the old Liberty Bell trolley line because a portion of the tracks followed Bethlehem Pike, Bish said. The trolley got its name because this route was the path traveled to transport the Liberty Bell to Allentown in 1777 when the British occupied Philadelphia, he said. "A trail of this magnitude and also one that has a historical tie to it will become a large tourist draw," Bish said. "It will draw people from outside the region for vacation or for a day trip." The former inner-urban Liberty Bell trolley route, operated by the Lehigh Valley Transit Co., transported people from Philadelphia to Allentown between 1900 and 1951, Bish said. It is unknown how much it will cost to build a trail along the former Liberty Bell line, he said. That figure will be estimated in the feasibility study, which could take one year to complete. Waetzman Planning Group of Bryn Mawr is the prime consultant on the feasibility study project, Bish said. Waetzman also is working with planners from Land Concepts Group of Blue Bell, traffic engineers from Orth-Rodgers & Associates Inc. of Philadelphia, civil engineers EDM Consultants Inc. of Hatfield Township, and historic preservationists from Robert Wise Consulting of Paoli. ©Reporter online.com 2002 <<<<<<< ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.