Future Trail work in the area
Greetings Bill,
We rode past IKEA, under Ridge Pike, past Cracker Barrel, and to the far end
of the Metroplex shopping center. The interersections at the Metrolplex
are
very bike and ped unfriendly. But, anyhow, it is now easy to get to IKEA
for
their inexpensive meals! And if you bored with IKEA, there is now Cracker
Barrel!
Charlie Brant
Saturday August 4, 2007 Ride: .As I reach the end of the
completed trail, I notice a back hoe working in the area that the trail will
continue as it crosses Germantown Pike. I now cross Germantown Pk. by going
Straight at the intersection into the business campus, bare left and make a left
on Butler Pk.. New construction is being done on Butler As I reach the end of
the completed trail, I notice a back hoe working in the area that the trail will
continue as it crosses Germantown Pike. The section in Ft. Washington Park is
completed. A sign at the Rt. 73 and Mullica Hill Rd. list the distances to
Flowertown Rd as 1.5 miles and to Stenton 2 miles. A unmarked fork goes to
Bethlehem Pk..and Mill Rd. The trail in Ft. Washington is about 75 percent black
top. the rest is packed gravel and clay. 25mm tires are ok on this surface. and
the road will be wider in that area soon. . The trail section in Ft. Washington
Park is completed. A sign at the Rt. 73 and Mullica Hill Rd. list the distances
to Flowertown Rd as 1.5 miles and to Stenton 2 miles. A unmarked fork goes to
Bethlehem Pk..and Mill Rd. The trail in Ft. Washington is about 75 percent black
top. the rest is packed gravel and clay. 25mm tires are ok on this
surface.
Top
Stories
Berks plans new trail along Hay Creek
Andrew
McCue, Special to The Mercury
01/27/2007
UNION
-- Berks County officials unveiled plans to convert an abandoned rail line into
a recreation trail that will connect southern Berks County to the Chester County
line. Called the Hay Creek Trail, the new meandering Berks County Park would
connect the Birdsboro area to the Horseshoe Trail in French Creek State Park.
|
|
Currently Berks County parks are clustered in the north and
west. The system has 12 major recreation areas but only one, the Allegheny
Aqueduct, in the south end of the county.
Over the next few years this could change if the county commissioners get their
way.
Officials showed off plans for the Hay Creek Trail Wednesday at the first of two
public meetings in the cafeteria at Daniel Boone High School.
Addressing the meeting were Berks County Commissioners Judith L. Schwank, Mark
C. Scott and Thomas W. Gajewski Sr., members of the county parks department and
a number of consultants.
Schwank noted that the course of the Hay Creek Trail is not dependent on the
closed section of Route 82.
Route 82 is a PennDOT issue, she said, and the trail can go on with or without
it.
Many of those present at the meeting were owners of land along the proposed
trail that were sent letters inviting them to the meeting.
"They have a big interest in the trail," said William W. Semmel, Berks
County Parks and Recreation Department executive director.
Ronald J. Romanik, who received an invitation letter, owns two acres adjacent to
the trail.
"The trail runs through the last 50 or so feet of our lot," he said.
Semmel said that Conrail abandoned the railroad in 1989.
Schwank said putting a trail along the abandoned rail corridor has been a
priority for the county since 1994.
"And here we are more than 10 years later," she said.
Scott said, "We’re at the point now where we’re going to bring this to
fruition."
Semmel said an aerial survey was done in 2004 and then a field survey which was
followed by title searches.
Andy Strauss, a consultant working on the project, explained the next step, the
acquisition process.
He said with the title searches completed, the appraisals were beginning.
Strauss said of the appraisers, "They are valuing the railroad corridor
that the county would like to buy."
The actual amount of money offered for the trail easements would then be up to
the county commissioners.
Strauss said the land needed for the 9.7-mile trail would be 66 feet wide but
only represent 85 to 90 acres.
He said the Birdsboro Municipal Authority owns about 7 percent of the land and
the remaining 93 percent is held by 65 separate private owners.
"With 18 miles of parameter, there are 18 miles of neighbors," he
said.
Questions raised by those in attendance included future property values, and
Strauss said experience has shown that trailside property values go up because
of the nearness to the trail.
Claudia Bahorik, whose mother owns 120 acres along the trail, said people have
dumped mattresses and refrigerators there, and that she has caught people
camping out and having beer parties.
Strauss said, "When it’s opened up as a public facility, public safety
almost always improves.
"As a general rule," he said, "safety improves when there are
eyes and ears and signage."
He also noted that part of the trail design would include gates and fences
designed to keep out motor vehicles.
The next public meeting on this issue will be held Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 2:30
p.m. at Birdsboro Borough Hall.
©The Mercury 2007
Sent by Arnie Roseman