{"id":55280,"date":"2025-12-08T15:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55280\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:51:08","slug":"lhva-to-build-2m-bridge-walking-trail-connecting-olyphant-to-dickson-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/55280\/","title":{"rendered":"LHVA to build $2M bridge, walking trail connecting Olyphant to Dickson City"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority will bridge Olyphant and Dickson City with an estimated $2 million project.\n<\/p>\n

The LHVA plans to undertake its most expensive project in recent history next year by constructing a pedestrian bridge over the Lackawanna River that will link an upcoming section of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Olyphant with an existing section of the heritage trail in Dickson City, said Owen Worozbyt, director of operations at the LHVA.\n<\/p>\n

The project will build a new trailhead with a parking lot for about a dozen cars on South Valley Avenue across from Rock Street with a roughly 0.8-mile paved path following Eddy Creek until its confluence with the Lackawanna River and continuing to the intersection of Lackawanna Avenue, Garfield Avenue, South Valley Avenue and East Scott Street, Worozbyt said.\n<\/p>\n

A 200-foot pedestrian bridge will link the new Olyphant trail with a 1-mile section of trail in Dickson City, he said. The LHVA completed the Dickson City trail, which runs from Railroad Street to the intersection of Main Street and West Lackawanna Avenue, in May 2021.\n<\/p>\n

It will also be the LHVA\u2019s longest bridge, followed by a 130-foot pedestrian bridge linking Olyphant\u2019s Condella Park with the Blakely Borough Recreation Complex, Worozbyt said. That bridge is about 35 years old.<\/p>\n

Engineers have not yet determined exactly where to build the new bridge along the Lackawanna River, Worozbyt said, explaining they are boring down to the bedrock under the river to take samples to figure out the most suitable location.<\/p>\n

The LHVA previously sought to convert a century-old mining bridge into a pedestrian bridge in the same location, but those plans crumbled in 2019 when the bridge collapsed, requiring crews to remove it from the river the following year.<\/p>\n

The project will use more than $1.6 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation\u2019s Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program to pay for the construction of the bridge and the walking trail, Worozbyt said. The organization also received $200,000 from the state Department of Community and Economic Development\u2019s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program to pay for the project\u2019s design, he said.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Although current estimates align with available funding, Worozbyt believes it could realistically cost upwards of $2 million, making it the LHVA\u2019s most expensive project during his 15-year tenure.<\/p>\n

He expects to put it out for bid in March and begin construction in the summer. The entire project would take between eight and 12 months to complete, he said.<\/p>\n

To solicit feedback from the community, the LHVA held an \u201cOlyphant Trail & Bridge Project\u201d public meeting on Monday at the Olyphant Borough Building, according to public notices published Nov. 28 and Nov. 30 in The Times-Tribune.\n<\/p>\n

The meeting included representatives from Olyphant, PennDOT, the LHVA and the LHVA\u2019s contracted engineer, Colwell-Naegele Associates Inc., Worozbyt said.<\/p>\n

Turnout from the public was a bit light due to the holiday, but residents who attended were especially excited to have a walking loop along South Valley Avenue, in addition to having the new bridge connecting the trail to Dickson City, he said.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Dickson City residents and trail users will get their own presentation at 6 p.m. at the Dickson City Borough Building, 901 Enterprise St., according to a public notice published Thursday in The Times-Tribune.\n<\/p>\n

With the new trail just beyond the Throop border, Worozbyt pointed out that it essentially connects Throop, Olyphant and Dickson City.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about connectivity,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing able to connect more and more of these older communities together through trail systems to make it easier for people to get around without having to use vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projects like this also aim to bring attention to the Lackawanna River and its watershed, as well as the native wildlife and vegetation, Worozbyt said. Landscaping will use native plants, and the LHVA will do some environmental restoration work as they build the trail through abandoned coal fields, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re doing these, it\u2019s not just a trail,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to help the environment. We\u2019re trying to improve the overall quality of life by creating these access points to the river.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olyphant Borough Council President Jimmy Baldan praised the heritage trail, noting it runs through the middle of his town.<\/p>\n

With pedestrian bridges connecting Olyphant to Blakely and soon Dickson City, Baldan anticipates the trail will drive more foot and bicycle traffic into his town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the heritage trail comes through, they do it the right way,\u201d Baldan said. \u201cIt\u2019s just exciting for our council and our residents to have this happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority plans to add a section of the Lackwanna River Heritage Trail with the trailhead located off of South Valley Avenue across from Rock St. in Olyphant Thursday, December 4, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority will bridge Olyphant and Dickson City with an estimated $2 million project. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,2120,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-55280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-lackawanna-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-olyphant","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-scranton","14":"tag-scranton-headlines","15":"tag-scranton-news","16":"tag-top-stories-stt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}