The East Penn Railroad is abandoning its Colebrookdale Spur which runs from Pottstown through Boyertown in Berks County up to Colebrookdale.
Montgomery County which is setting the national standard in rails to trails preservation intends to file a notice of interim trail use with the STB for the portion within Montgomery County and
to railbank this line for a future trail.
Meanwhile in Berks County the Reading Eagle reports that officials are about to pay a consultant $110 an hour to study the feasibility of preserving the line as a railroad.
This is not the first time that Montgomery County's trail plans clashed with other county plans. Bucks County recently paid for a study for the feasibility of Bus Rapid Transit along the Newtown Branch. Although we have never heard the results of that study Montgomery County is planning to grade a small portion of that line for a trail through Lorimar Park, connecting with the Pennypack Trail in Philadelphia.
As you can see on the map a trail along this corridor would connect Boyertown to the Schuylkill River Trail in Pottstown.
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This is the legacy blog of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. It is an archive of posts from 2003 to 2014. Making your ride better since 1972. https://www.bicyclecoalition.org
1 comments:
Living with-in walking distance a trail would be a great addition to this town, we could all use the area with the rising gas prices. We walk our dog down the tracks now but with access it could be open to all. And am sure with help from the Build a Better Boyertown it could be a great success. If only they would be interested in converting the rail line even further, maybe to Bally.
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