Rail sale should make room for D&L Trail
Editor: A ceremonial groundbreaking in May in Mountain Top launched real improvements to 4.7 miles of former rail line that takes the Delaware & Lehigh Trail over the top but not yet home.
The D&L Trail stretches from Bucks County to Mountain Top and soon to the Oliver Mills section of Laurel Run Borough in Luzerne County.
The goal for 25 years has been to complete the trail to Wilkes-Barre, 165 miles tracing the path of anthracite coal from the Wyoming Valley, transported along canals and rail to fuel the industrial revolution of the United States.
The trail is part of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. The section being improved is a partnership with the property owner, the Anthracite Scenic Trails Association as well as Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development and Hanover Twp.
Another section below Oliver Mills is expected to be bid this fall with construction to follow. These improved sections bring the Delaware & Lehigh Trail tantalizingly close to the northern terminus, downtown Wilkes-Barre.
But the route from Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre Twp. to downtown has not been established.
A common-sense trail to downtown would be — in part — on an existing rail line owned by Luzerne County Rail Authority. As the county considers the sale of the rail line it is prudent it considers including space for trails.
It’s taken 25 years to get the D&L Trail this close to the Wyoming Valley. Luzerne County government should plan for completing this amenity that provides recreation and other wellness benefits and potential for economic development that is already happening on the established sections of the D&L Trail.
Joseph T. Butkiewicz, Kingston, Board member Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor