After being postponed a week due to weather, the Walnutport Canal Festival was held Sunday October 24. A beautiful fall day greeted the hundreds of festival goers. The festival is a great combination of food, antiques and local historical societies gathered in a place of major historical significance with the convergence of the Lehigh Canal, railroads and various industries in the Walnutport / Slatington area.

The D&L had a display with Scott and Dale answering numerous questions about the Corridor and the D&L Trail. In addition, Dale had a collection of coal miners’ gear on display.

With new signage and a streetscape project in Walnutport, a new trailhead in Slatington, and hundreds of regular trail users in both towns, this area is one of the hot spots along our trail. In the future, look for a new trail section to link Slatington to Laurys Station and points south.

The following is part two of a two-part report from D&L Trail Steward Scott Everett. In part one, Scott provided an update on trail building in Luzerne and Carbon counties.  In this part, he describes activity in Lehigh, Northampton, and Bucks counties.

Lehigh County 

In Lehigh County, trail is literally being built as I write. The section of D&L Trail from Route 329 in Cementon to River Road in Laurys Station is currently under construction.
The scope of work consists of surfacing 2.3 miles of trail and installation of two trailheads – one at Railroad Street in Cementon and one at River Road in Laurys Station. Construction should be completed by the end of November.

One of the things that continue to impress me is how communities have embraced the D&L Trail and have initiated projects on their own. The Community Center at the Slatington Trailhead is one such project. I was privileged to be invited to the planning meetings gathering many service groups in the greater Northern Lehigh area. With a long-term lease of the property secured from Lehigh County, work on the building began a few months ago. A testament to the once-thriving local state industry, the building is being constructed out of slate block.

When complete, the building will consist of a kitchen, restrooms and pavilion. It is conveniently situated between the D&L and Slate Heritage trails. This same group of service organizations and community leaders has been responsible for the construction of the restrooms and covered bridge on the Slate Heritage Trail. They are a wonderful group of people that are leaving a legacy along the trails.

Another exciting project being undertaken by one of our partners is the expansion of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. The addition will include amenities for trail users, along with expansion of their excellent educational programs.

Elsewhere in Lehigh County, some challenges remain. We have started with the design of the section of trail in Catasauqua. When complete, the project will create a trailhead at the Deily Coal Yard, clean out the invasive plants that pervade the canal and its banks, and surface the towpath. Despite this progress, upcoming bridge projects and land issues will slow development of the remainder of the D&L Trail in Lehigh County.

Northampton County

In Northampton County, we continue working to resolve the land issues in Freemansburg so that we can resurface the towpath. This project is being coupled with the section of trail from Riverview Park in Forks Township to Hugh Moore Park.

Elsewhere in Northampton County, we are pleased to report that sections of the towpath along the Delaware Canal are now open starting at the Forks in Easton. Please refer to Delaware Canal State Park’s website of the for the latest information on trail status of the sixty-mile section of trail within the Delaware Canal State Park. Finally, a very nice gateway project has recently being completed in Walnutport.

Bucks County

Repaired sections of trail are also being opened within the Bucks County section of the D&L Trail that passes through Delaware Canal State Park. The goal is to have all flood damaged sections finished by the middle of 2010.

The Route 13 crossing of the trail is still being discussed. There are no easy solutions and funding is still an issue. The tunnel under the active rail line is moving forward, and it appears that it can be constructed with the funding in place.

Finally, across the entire Corridor, we continue to add signage and replace weathered interpretive panels. This is an ongoing project, but we are making slow but steady progress.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can always contact Scott Everett at 610-923-0537 (x232) or Scott@DelawareandLehigh.org. 

Construction is underway on Lehigh County’s newest link in the D&L Trail. In late August, crews broke ground on a section of trail that will connect new trailheads in Laurys Station and Cementon. Unlike long portions of the trail that stick to the canal towpath, this section will be built on an abandoned railroad grade that follows the edge of the river.

Building a rail trail is tough work. Remaining timber ties and steel rails were removed, and large equipment expanded the bed to create space for a trail. The ballast was rolled and scraped to create a level base, and a new cinder surface was put down on top.

The new surface will provide over 3 miles of smooth riding and walking past historic mill remains, railroad infrastructure, and great views of the Lehigh River. When work is complete, the D&L will install new directional and interpretive signage at both trailheads and mile markers in between.

Construction should be completed by November 1. Please check back for additional information on the official dedication of this important piece of trail.

We’ve had a great response to the D&L’s first annual photo contest. Many of the entries are now posted in the photo gallery section of our website. The contest continues through October 9, so get your last minute entries to us as soon as possible.

The following is part one of a two part report from D&L Trail Steward Scott Everett. In part one, Scott provides an update on trail building in Luzerne and Carbon counties. Look for an update from our other three counties coming soon.

We have been very fortunate in the past few years to be able to undertake and complete major projects throughout the Corridor. I am happy to report on the progress of several additional projects and what we can look forward to as we head into 2010.

In Luzerne County, we are currently designing an 8.2-mile section of trail immediately north of Lehigh Gorge State Park (LGSP). The project will connect the Black Diamond Section of the D&L Trail to LGSP, providing about 35 miles of continuous trail. Scheduled for completion in 2010, this project also includes construction of a new trailhead in Wright Township, allowing for easy access from the Rt. 309 corridor.

We are excited about this project. This section of trail will be a different experience for D&L Trail users accustomed to following canals or rivers. This old Lehigh Valley Railroad railbed passes old farms, forests, and lakes.  At one point, the trail follows the edge of Moosehead Lake, which is one of the most scenic spots along the entire 165-mile trail. The trail also crosses an active rail line on the pedestrian bridge completed last year.

In Carbon County, things are happening literally from one end of the county to the other. In Jim Thorpe, Carbon County has released for bid the section of trail from the southern end of the Nesquehoning Trestle to the county parking lot in Jim Thorpe. This will allow LGSP users to travel directly into the downtown. Combined with the new sections in Luzerne County, this secton adds a substantial continuous length to the D&L Trail. Even more importantly, it creates a direct link between two significant canals towns: White Haven and Jim Thorpe. Construction is scheduled to be complete by mid-2010.

We hope to get bids out early next year for the design and building of the Jim Thorpe pedestrian bridge. This will be the linkage between everything described previously and our recently completed project in Weissport.

Speaking of Weissport, the public response to the new trailhead and improved surface has been overwhelming. The parking lot is full every weekend. I highly recommend a walk or bike ride along this section of the D&L Trail in the weeks ahead, as the leaves turn. It is absolutely beautiful.  As fall turns to winter, remember that the Weissport trailhead is lighted for ice skating.

Since the D&L Trail runs along the Lehigh River, we are subject to the many bridge projects that will be occurring in the years ahead. The first one underway is the PA Turnpike bridge project in Parryville.

The bridge work brings both good and bad news.  The bad news is that the project will literally cut off the D&L Trail on both sides of the Lehigh River for approximately two years. The good news is two fold. First, as part of the construction easement negotiations, the contractor will construct the D&L Trail on the access road that has been placed on the old railbed on the west side of the Lehigh River. I was also told by the bridge engineers that the piers that are currently in the canal will be removed and the canal restored to its original form. Finally, the new bridges are designed not to impact the canal. From what I have heard, the bridges (and the section of the D&L Trail) are scheduled to be completed sometime in 2012.

At the southern end of Carbon County, we are finishing the design of the section of the D&L Trail from the East Penn boat launch to the Carbon County / Lehigh County line. We have also decided to use a switchback to connect the upper and lower railbeds.  The upper bed, on which the Lehigh Gap Nature Center‘s L&NE and Bobolink trails run, and the lower bed, which the D&L Trail follows, will be connected with a lengthy switchback. This project will create a “loop,” allowing trail users to start at one end or the other and take one railbed out and the other back. The views from the upper bed are amazing. You can see first hand the restoration work underway on the Blue Mountain’s slopes. While the lower bed is a rough ride due to the rail ballast, the upper bed has a nice surface. We hope to get this project under construction sometime in 2010.

As you can see, we are making progress in Luzerne and Carbon counties. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 610-923-3548 (x232) or Scott@DelawareandLehigh.org.

Scott

Part two of Scott’s report, which details projects in Lehigh, Northampton, and Bucks counties, will appear soon.