Schuylkill River Trail, East Coast Greenway to get millions in stimulus $

Note: Click here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer story.

A consortium called GREAT-PA/NJ, “Generating Recovery by Enhancing Active Transportation in Pennsylvania & New Jersey,” has been awarded $23 million in federal stimulus money for a bi-state, multi-county pedestrian and bicycle trail network.
 
The funds ($17 million for Pennsylvania; $6 million for New Jersey), will come from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER discretionary grant program. It represents one of only two such grants for the Keystone State.
 
A total of $36 million was requested in September 2009 when the application was submitted, co-signed by Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Transportation Rina Cutler and other state and county officials. The grants cover portions of Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Camden County in New Jersey.
 
The money could mean that Spring Garden Street, from river to river, will be turned into a key connector for the East Coast Greenway, now under construction from Canada to the Florida Keys.
 
“The goal of this project is to complete an integrated, multi-county bicycle and pedestrian network for Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey – connecting cities as diverse as Philadelphia, Reading, Chester, and New Hope in PA; Camden, Cherry Hill, and Trenton in NJ; and Wilmington, DE,” the application stated.
 
“This proposal aims to fill 17 critical gaps in the network in order to significantly enhance active transportation in the region. These gaps are in both urban and suburban areas along the network’s key ‘spines,’ the Schuylkill River Trail and the East Coast Greenway.”
 
– Posted by Thomas J. Walsh

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