Community Corner

Bicycle and Pedestrian Trails Were Focus of Active Transportation Summit

Ongoing regional trail projects were discussed at the Center City conference.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) hosted an “Active Transportation Summit” on Thursday at the Cira Centre in Philadelphia. The conference, co-hosted by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, was aimed at raising awareness of the local regional trail network, its successes and the ongoing work needed to complete it.

Speakers included Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, bicycling advocate and author Mia Birk, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who stopped by to speak briefly about the city government’s contributions to making the city a “greener” place to live and work.

Attendees included city and county planners, engineers, bicycling advocacy organizations and environmental groups.

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DVRPC executive director Barry Seymour said, “A regional trail network is a key element for multimodal transportation.”

The DVRPC has a regional trails council that brings different groups together to work on the entire trails project.

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“The regional vision doesn’t happen at this level,” Seymour said. “It happens on the ground, with our local efforts, the pieces of the trail you’re working on, and seeing how each part connects into a larger network.”

Hoeffel spoke about the Schuylkill River Trail and the Perkiomen Valley Trail as examples of “what a county can do.” He said the Schuylkill River Trail to Phoenixville is on its way to 800,000 visitors per year and the Perkiomen Trail sees about 400,000 users.

According to Hoeffel, Montgomery County and Chester County are about to buy “a considerable amount of right-of-way” from an abandoned railroad that will allow the Chester County sections of the Schuylkill River Trail to be connected to the Montgomery County sections.

Hoeffel drew laughs from the crowd when he said he would like to walk across the Manayunk Bridge from the Montgomery County side, have Nutter cross from the city side, and meet in the middle of the Manayunk Bridge for a “golden handshake and to throw a big party.”

Nutter spoke about joint efforts between the city and the surrounding counties’ commissioners to build the trail network.

“When we collaborate, we do well,” he said. “Know that your city government and your regional governments are paying attention,” he told the crowd of attendees.

Patrick Starr, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), said, “Community and economic development and environmental sustainability are both achievable.”

Starr shared some facts and figures with the audience that exemplify the benefits of a trail system.

Property values along the Perkiomen Trail have increased an average of $4,766 per home within a quarter mile of the trail. In Radnor, within that same quarter-mile distance, property values have shot up an average of $47,000.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has also released figures, Starr said, that show that every $1 spent on trails leads to $2.94 in healthcare savings.

Starr said that trail development will be getting a push thanks to a recent federal grant of $23 million. There are seven projects in the Philadelphia area and three in New Jersey that will begin this summer.

The 800,000 users of the Schuylkill River Trail spend $3.6 million yearly in the areas adjacent to the trail, said Spencer Finch, the PEC’s director of sustainable development.

“There are business opportunities for renting bikes and kayaks, selling water, because people are out there. Planners have been working on a trail from Maine to Florida called the East Coast Greenway for several years. The East Coast Greenway is described as an “urban Appalachian Trail,” said Finch.

The East Coast Greenway is 25 percent completed. Several of the “backbone” trails in this region are the Great Allegheny Passage, which is one-half of a mile from its destination endpoint, the Pine Creek Trail (100 percent completed with plans to connect it over the state line to Rochester, New York), and the Delaware and Lehigh Trail, which is 79 percent completed but is under 99 percent public ownership.

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Division Chief Diane Kripas cited the town of Carlisle, Pa., as an example of how good planning can work. Carlisle has narrowed travel lanes to add bike lanes on its major thoroughfares, such as Hanover Street, for use by Dickinson College students and residents of downtown Carlisle.

Michael DiBerardinis, Philadelphia deputy mayor for environmental and community resources, moderated a panel on new trail and bikeway projects being built in 2011 and 2012. This was an opportunity for several area trail developers to talk about their projects and the challenges and successes they have had.

A regional trail network “provides increasing economic, social and environmental value,” DiBerardinis said. Some of the trail projects in the works are a “Bridge to Ridge” trail connecting Wissahickon and Fairmount Park and a series of improvements to the Tacony and Poquessing Creek parks.

In Chester County, the Chester Valley Trail is part of 260 miles of county trails. Planning commission member Natasha Manbeck said that the Chester Valley section of the trail will eventually connect Exton to Norristown, where it will join the Schuylkill River Trail.

Manbeck said she has been told by many people that they would “rather be riding the trail in the rain instead of sitting in congestion on Route 202.”

Anthony Perno, who was part of the planning team that revitalized the Camden waterfront, said that 20 percent of the revenue for the city of Camden comes from places built along Riverfront Park. There are plans to reconnect Camden to the greater region with a trail system that encompasses the entire city.

Also on the panel was Phil Ehrlinger of Doylestown Borough, who spoke on Doylestown’s efforts to become more bike-friendly, and Michelle Reiff and Ruth James of the 58th Street Greenway Project.

Keynote speaker Mia Birk shared her story of working to make Portland, Ore., a bike-friendly city. Birk talked about the keys to making a bike-commute plan work. Eight percent of Portland residents bike to work every day, and 18 percent ride at least some of the time. The bike industry has generated over $100 million in revenue for the city and created 1,500 jobs.

The afternoon sessions of the conference focused on health statistics and how to get people out to use bike trails. Panelists also talked about the Great Allegheny Passage’s Trail Town Program, which provides support and resources to people who start trail-related businesses in towns along the GAP.

Panelists also discussed the biggest challenges of getting a regional trail system built and how to work together over a large region with separate projects.

The day wrapped up with a tour to the site of the Manayunk Bridge, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013.


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