Credit: James Boyle/NewtownPANow.com
After taking a few extra weeks to gather more information, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support Bucks County’s plans to create an 8.4 mile walking trail that begins at the border of Montgomery County and ends in Newtown Borough.
Officials from the Bucks County Planning Planning Commission presented to the Newtown supervisors in January the plan to turn the former SEPTA Newtown to Fox Chase rail line in to a recreational path, but the endorsement vote was postponed until assistant township manager Micah Lewis conferred with surrounding towns.
“We wanted to see if adjacent municipalities had made a similar vote,” said Lewis. “This is spearheaded by the county, but the townships have to accept some liability and maintenance costs.”
The proposed trail would connect with the Pennypack Trail in Lower Moreland and run through Upper Southampton, Middletown, Northampton and Newtown township and borough. As of now, only the Upper Southampton supervisors have officially given their support. Wednesday’s vote of approval carried the condition that the remaining communities also needed to support the proposal.
A combination of county money and more than $250,000 in grant funding provided significant support toward the goal of creating miles of recreational trails throughout Bucks. More than $100,000 in grants from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will fund design and engineering for the Upper Southampton segment of the Newtown Rail Trail.
The 2.55-mile Upper Southampton leg will connect to Montgomery County’s Pennypack trail and work its way up to Bristol Road, repurposing the former SEPTA Newtown R8 line into a multi-use path for pedestrians and bikes. The cost of the entire, 8.4 mile-trail reaching into Newtown Borough would cost approximately $4.8 million, according to recent estimates.
