hal
Sun, 15 Feb 2004 08:14:14 -0800
FYI Another article on the access and loops connecting to the Schuylkill River Trail and Cross County Trail.
Hal Montco commissioners back plans for $16.4 million trail-system expansion By Keith Herbert Inquirer Staff Writer Montgomery County commissioners said yesterday that they support a $16.4 million plan that would build 29 more miles of recreational trails in the county over four years. The plan features links to existing trails, city-suburb connections, and creation of trail loops. Construction is expected to begin this spring. Steven L. Nelson, the county's deputy chief operating officer for policy planning, presented the plan, which shows future trails jutting from and circling the Perkiomen Trail and Schuylkill River Trail. The 19-mile Perkiomen Trail was completed in November. "We're continuing the momentum of the Perkiomen Trail," Nelson said. Of the $16.4 million cost, the county would pay $11 million; the state would kick in $5.3 million, and the federal government's share would be $80,000, Nelson said. The county's contribution is expected to cost each taxpaying household $1.70 a year for the next 25 years. The county would draw on cash from a $150 million bond issue for open space that voters approved in November. Though the commissioners took no formal action on the plan, they had only favorable comments about it. Highlights of the plan include an Audubon Loop, which would connect the Perkiomen Trail in Lower Providence to the Mill Grove Wildlife Sanctuary. It also would link with the Schuylkill River Trail near Route 422 in Upper Merion. The trail loop would be about three miles. In the eastern part of the county, plans call for an extension of the Schuylkill River Trail to the north. The new trail would snake through Conshohocken, Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Springfield. The first eight miles would link the river trail to Bethlehem Pike in Fort Washington. After that, a mile-long connector would allow hikers to reach the Lower Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail, which eventually connects to Fairmount Park's Forbidden Drive in Philadelphia. "In developing the plan, what we tried to do is look to create as many of miles of trail as we could, create it in areas that didn't have trails in them now, and to expand the system," Nelson said in an interview after the commissioners' meeting. Contact staff writer Keith Herbert at 610-313-8007 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/m ontgomery_county/7941927.htm ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.