SCRANTON — Lackawanna County officials recently reapplied for state grant funding to extend the county’s North Pocono Trail toward the Elmhurst Reservoir and hope the third time is the charm after twice failing to secure grant funds for the extension in recent years.
Commissioners Thom Welby, Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak retroactively approved an application last week seeking about $232,150 through the state’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program to support continued trail construction. The initial stretch of trail, built by Leeward Construction Inc., stretches approximately 3.5 miles through a county-owned former railroad corridor from about the Interstate 84/380 Twin Bridges project site in Dunmore to a trailhead near the Y Knot Pub and Eatery and Route 435 in Elmhurst Twp.
After approving a roughly $2.2 million contract for that initial construction phase in March 2024, using state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant funding and federal American Rescue Plan Act money for that project, commissioners subsequently approved unsuccessful applications seeking state funds for phase two in August 2024 and June 2025.
COURTESY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY
A map of the proposed second phase of Lackawanna County’s ongoing North Pocono Trail project. Commissioners approved a contract for the first phase in March 2024. (COURTESY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY)
If successful this time, the grant would support the extension of the trail roughly a third of a mile from the Elmhurst Trailhead, the terminus point of the first construction phase, to Route 435 and through a share-the-road section along GC Smith Street to the site of a proposed pocket park the county would construct. From there, the trail would tie into an existing county-owned utility access road leading to the Elmhurst Reservoir, the county’s most-recent grant application shows.
Officials still plan to use work on a county-owned bridge targeted for replacement on GC Smith Street, a separate county project, as an in-kind grant match for the potential Greenways, Trails and Recreation funding. The grant application puts the estimated value of the in-kind construction services at $55,152.
The pocket park planned off GC Smith Street, just past the bridge, would provide access to Roaring Brook.
Assuming the county secures the grant, a timeline included in the application notes officials would update existing trail construction plans, complete final design and bid documents for the pocket park component of the project and secure necessary permits next year. Construction of the trail extension, pocket park, trail amenities, “river access improvements” and associated site work would take place in 2028.
Before they retroactively approved the grant application, county Economic Development Director Tom Carlucci told commissioners that the project would create additional recreation opportunities, improve quality of life, help attract visitors, support outdoor tourism and increase the values of nearby properties.
Officials have articulated a broader goal of eventually extending the trail even farther in potential future phases.