Schuylkill bike trail expansion to start

March 15, 2011|By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer

In about a week, crews will begin work on a $1.1 million expansion of the Schuylkill River bike trail, connecting Falls Bridge with Ridge Avenue and filling one of the most strategic gaps in the city's trail system.

Bike enthusiasts hope the project, to be completed in June, will inaugurate a busy year of constructing bike lanes and trails, including two more extensions of the Schuylkill River Trail.

Falls Bridge to Ridge Avenue is a particularly important piece. The crumbling narrow sidewalk there now often discourages bikers from continuing into Manayunk, or pushes them into an unfriendly high-speed section of road.