PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than $13 million in federal grant money has been secured for two Schuylkill River Trail expansion projects.
The grant from the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program will go toward constructing two key extensions. One is the Passyunk Connection in Southwest Philly, which is currently a dead end opposite of 61st Street.
When the 3,400-foot extension is completed, it will connect bikers, runners and walkers on the Schuylkill River Trail to Passyunk Avenue.
“It turns a trail from being simply a recreational trail to now a trail that is both recreational and commuter,” said Joseph Syrnick, president and CEO of the Schuylkill River Development Corporation.
“And once you get to Passyunk Avenue, you can either go east over the Passyunk Avenue Bridge to South Philly or you can go west over Essington Avenue and connect with the many neighborhoods in Southwest Philadelphia.”
The other project, led by the Philadelphia Streets Department, will add a 2,000-foot, off-road, multi-use trail and bicycle-pedestrian bridge along the Wissahickon Gateway Trail in Manayunk.
Currently, trail-goers are forced to use a narrow shoulder and sidewalk that runs along Main Street and Ridge Avenue. The area has a crash rate four times higher than the city’s average crash rate.
The projects are expected to be finished in about two years.