Bicyclists in the Philadelphia area have been buzzing for ages about the continued development of the ultra-popular Schuylkill River Trail, which in about five years time should be a fully accessible and continuous trail running all the way from Bartram's Garden to Schuylkill County. To be sure, the eventual completion of the 130 mile trail is a goal that is both ambitious and high-reaching. But on a chilly and overcast day in mid-March, Mayor Nutter and various members of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia were on-hand at a groundbreaking ceremony that marked the beginning of yet another small step towards the successful completion of that goal.
The Fairmount Bikeway Improvement Project was the enterprise being celebrated at the groundbreaking; the project's aim is to make a series of major improvements to the Fairmount Bikeway trail, which is the section of the Schuylkill River Trail between Falls Bridge and Ridge Avenue. As Mark Focht of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation says, "I'm not sure when this section was originally built, but it really doesn't meet the standards of the trails as we construct them today."
The plan, says Focht, essentially involves making the trail both wider and safer. Currently, the width of the trail varies between roughly six and 10 feet, and that'll be expanded to a width of between eight and 12 feet when the project is complete. As for the portion of the path that runs alongside the roadway - Focht describes it as little more than a glorified sidewalk - it'll be made considerably safer by the addition of a guiderail, which will be smartly positioned between the widened trail and the nearby traffic. Portions of the trail will also be sloped to allow for proper water drainage. The project is expected to be complete this June.
Source: Mark A. Focht, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
Writer: Dan Eldridge
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