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Urging federal, state and local officials to support and fund the completion of the Philadelphia segment of the Schuylkill River Trail, a 128 mile stretch of trails which spans from Pottsville to Philadelphia linking Schuylkill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, and use every opportunity to work together to advance this project as an economic development, recreation, community revitalization and environmental preservation priority for the region.
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WHEREAS, The Schuylkill River Trail is a series of trail segments from Pottsville to Philadelphia linking Schuylkill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties and multiple municipalities along the 128 mile stretch of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, of which 19 miles flows through Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The Schuylkill River Trail is designated as part of the National and State Heritage Area Program and works to revitalize and restore the region through natural and cultural resource preservation, education, recreation, community revitalization, and heritage tourism; and
WHEREAS, The Schuylkill River Trail encompasses the Manayunk Tow Path, Kelly Drive and Schuylkill Banks in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia is in heavy demand by approximately 670,000 users annually, including bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, rollerbladers and skateboarders, who use the trail for recreation, commuting, relaxation and as a transportation path between destination points; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River Trail is an important feature of the City’s Fairmount Park system; connects to the Wissahickon Trail and is also part of the East Coast Greenway system; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River Trail has the potential to serve as a strong catalyst for economic development; a connector between a variety of Philadelphia neighborhoods, business districts, and suburban neighbors; the region’s first green transportation corridor for multiple city neighborhoods; and a critical access point to the riverfront, parks and commuting paths for underserved communities; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia needs to develop carbon-neutral and sustainable transportation corridors to facilitate more of its residents and suburban neighbors to walk, bicycle or take public transportation to work and reduce the percentage of workers who drive to work; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 9 miles of the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia are completed, but nearly 5 more miles are in planning or design stages encompassing nine different trail segments under varying degrees of development; and
WHEREAS Nine trail projects if constructed, would complete Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River Trail from Delaware County to Montgomery County. They include making safer connections through the Wissahickon Gateway, extending the trail southward to Bartram’s Garden and to Cobbs Creek Park in Delaware County, and a connection to Lower Merion’s planned Cynwyd Trail on the inactive R6 line that could be extended into Philadelphia up to the Ivy Ridge station; and
WHEREAS, A coordinated approach to completing the trail is necessary to make the trail greater than the sum of its parts. A completed trail will make Philadelphia more competitive, attract economic development, extend a green transportation corridor south to South Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia, west to West Philadelphia and Lower Merion, north to East Falls, Manayunk and Roxborough and through Center City and North Philadelphia, and enhance the City’s livability factor to a much larger number of the region’s residents, now therefore,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby urges federal, state and local officials to support and fund the completion of the Philadelphia segment of the Schuylkill River Trail, a 128 mile stretch of trails which spans from Pottsville to Philadelphia linking Schuylkill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, and use every opportunity to work together to advance this project as an economic development, recreation, community revitalization and environmental preservation priority for the region.
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