The D&L Blog

Blog Post By: D&L Trail Manager, Lauren Golden

The Carbon County Pedestrian Bridge at Jim Thorpe is the big thing happening on the D&L Trail these days (Groundbreaking is April 5^th at 12 pm!). But while work progresses on the ground in Jim Thorpe, the D&L is continuing to move forward with roughly 20 additional projects throughout the Corridor, each involving additional partners and supporters. A lot of background work happens before trail users see any physical changes. The steps to developing trail follow a regular progression of phases: acquisition/site control, funding, engineering/permitting, bidding, construction, and closeout. As you can see, construction is just one step, and often times is one of the shortest steps.

We are in the pre-construction phase for 6.5 miles of trail in Luzerne County that will be located between Oliver Mills and Laurel Run Borough.   When built, this project will also connect the D&L Trail to the Seven Tubs Nature Area in Luzerne County.  With the funding step nearly complete, preparations are being made to begin the engineering and permitting phase. Next week, I’ll be walking the 6.5 miles of trail with our partners from PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – DCNR (funders of the project) and North Branch Land Trust (landowner, local project coordinators, and grant recipients). During this walk, we’ll use GPS to track the exact route and length and make note of any physical or environmental obstructions. Additionally, the project team will get even more familiar with the overall “lay of the land.” This will help us write a better Request for Proposals (RFP) from prospective engineering firms as well as complete DEP’s Environmental Review, where we check for any potential impacts to endangered or protected wildlife.

We are very excited to be moving this length of trail development forward and are especially grateful for our partners at DCNR Bureau of Recreation & Conservation and the good folks at North Branch Land Trust for their support and coordination.

Questions? Contact Lauren! [email protected] or (610) 923 – 3548 x227.