PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City officials, residents and advocates cut the ribbon on Friday for a new hiking and biking trail on the Delaware River in the Northeast.
The trail is only a half-mile long — from Lardner’s Point Park north to the Tacony boat launch — but it closes a gap between existing trails, creating 2 miles of access to the riverfront. It’s part of a larger plan to extend the trail for 11 miles from Torresdale to Port Richmond, and eventually to Center City and South Philadelphia.
The plan was first envisioned 30 years ago and the process began in 2004, but it took years to acquire the land along an abandoned Conrail route, behind several industrial properties.
There is still considerably more to be done, but officials were happy to celebrate this milestone. Standing on the trail with the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge as a backdrop, Mayor Jim Kenney said investing in trails brings many benefits.
“When people are exposed to nature and have access to green spaces, they are happier, healthier and give back to their community,” he said.
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Patrick Starr, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, said in a way, the trail has been there for years, as a footpath worn into the dirt.
“The community had already expressed itself. It was walking this right of way before we got here to make it official,” he said.
Now, it’s paved, 12 feet wide and very official.
“Good things take time,” said Starr. “Great things take a little longer.”
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