LOWER POTTSGROVE TWP., Pa. — A new trail connection opened Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting celebration.
The connector is just nine-tenths of a mile long, but getting here took much longer.
“It completes a connection that has been decades in the making,” said Jamila Winder, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
The larger trail vision began in 1976. This connector received its first regional planning grant in 2015.
“It’s a safer, more direct route between Industrial Highway and the Route 422 bridge, whether people are walking, biking, rolling, or strolling,” Winder said.
The extension helps connect almost 70 miles of the Schuylkill River Trail, from Reading to Philadelphia. The trail now stretches from Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia to Riverfront Park in Reading.
“It’s about walkability. It’s about riding your bike. It’s about hanging out and meeting and taking a look at nature,” said U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean. “It’s about better health, but it’s also about economic development around these trails.”
Crews also had some smaller neighbors to look out for during construction.
“This area is a nesting habitat for the red-bellied turtle, so construction had to work around these protected species,” Winder said.