When: Lancaster City Council meeting, Oct. 11.
What happened: Council approved a resolution that allows the city to apply for a $1 million grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to be used for a boardwalk along the Conestoga River. The boardwalk project would connect a spot near the city’s Operations Center to a spot near the Amtrak bridge in the Walnut Street Fishing Area. The move offers a glimpse at how the city’s portion of the Greater Lancaster Heritage Pathway is shaping up.
Double duty: The Lancaster Heritage Pathway is a proposed 15-mile trail involving both on-road and off-road active transportation and featuring a variety of trail surfaces. That trail — which includes an area often referred to as the “goat path” — is to run from East Hempfield Township through Lancaster and end at Route 772 in Leola. Council’s resolution, however, lists the boardwalk as part of the Northeast Greenway Trail. That’s a designation that appeared prior to the Lancaster Heritage Pathway plan, with Greenway Trail connections slated to veer off in different directions. The area where city officials hope to put a boardwalk is essentially part of both routes.
Cost: The $1 million would bring the city close to the roughly $4 million the boardwalk project is expected to cost, said Cindy McCormick, the city’s deputy director of engineering, in an email. The city already secured $2.8 million toward the project from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation programs, she said. Stephen Campbell, director of public works, told council that the city’s contribution would be around $245,000. “So we’re just at $1 million deficit, if you will, and that in part is because the engineering challenges dealing with the Amtrak surround were extensive and more expensive than originally anticipated,” he said.
What’s next: Campbell said he hopes to hear back about the requested $1 million in early 2023. If received, the project could be well underway by 2024, he said.
Nearby plans: The boardwalk project is adjacent to but not included in The Conestoga Pines Park & Walnut Street Fishing Area Master Plan. City officials don’t yet have a cost estimate for that. Suggestions for improvements to that public space have been sought via the city’s Engage Lancaster platform, and a draft plan has not been presented.
Beyond the boardwalk: Lancaster is working with West Lampeter Township to determine which neighborhoods there will serve as a trail connection to Pitney Road, Mayor Danene Sorace said during an Oct. 3 meeting. Sorace did not attend on Oct. 11.
— Rebecca Logan,
For LNP | LancasterOnline
