Greater Philadelphia Bicycle News

Lack of money holds up trail (phillyBurbs.com)

Ed. Note - I wonder if this project would be eligible for a Safe Routes to School Application

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources won't help the Hatfield municipalities pay for the Chestnut Street trail.

In a joint grant application, the borough and the township asked for $106,000 from the state and promised to match the total to create the 1.5-mile walkway that was to start at the borough's administration building and end at the township's School Road Park.

DCNR approved only about 30 percent of the grant applications it received because it didn't have enough money for the rest, said Nancy Stock, Hatfield Township's parks director. "The application was as strong as it was going to get," she said.

The trail, designed to link to the county's proposed Liberty Bell Trail, would include stops near the borough's core business district, the Hatfield Village Apartments, the Hatfield Community Park and pool location, the police station, the township building and School Road Park. It would also include a pedestrian bridge over the west branch of the Neshaminy Creek in Hatfield Borough.