Trail grant brings tears of joy

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The Harvey Run Trail will extend from Ring Road at the Chadds Ford Township municipal building driveway to the Brandywine River Museum of Art.

When Deb Reardon heard the news, tears came to her eyes.

Reardon chairs the Chadds Ford Open Space Committee, and the news was that the group had finally been awarded a grant for a footbridge to be installed over wetlands as part of the long-sought-after Harvey Run Trail.

“We’ve been trying to get this going on four years,” Reardon said.

She had been hoping and waiting for the grant, then the phone call finally came in from the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art.

“The call came in the morning, and they said they were going to make my day. I thought it was a tease, but when they said, ‘You got awarded $100,000,’ tears fell from my eyes,” Reardon said.

That figure might be on the low side. A press release from state Sen. Dominic Pileggi’s office last week said the grant was for $110,000. Reardon will know for certain once she sees the paperwork.

The trail, once built, would begin near the Ring Road driveway entrance of the Chadds Ford municipal building, abut part of the PECO property, then proceed onto conservancy land and connect with the existing foot trail along the Brandywine Creek at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, about two-and-a-half miles.

Chadds Ford Township Open Space Committee Chairman Deb Reardon thinks the engineering phase for the bridge could take through the winter or into spring, with construction beginning in late spring or sometime in the summer of 2015. She wants the trail to become a gathering place for residents to help build a sense of community.
Chadds Ford Township Open Space Committee Chairman Deb Reardon thinks the engineering phase for the bridge could take through the winter or into spring, with construction beginning in late spring or sometime in the summer of 2015. She wants the trail to become a gathering place for residents to help build a sense of community.

Reardon said the money is earmarked for engineering, administration and construction of the bridge. Part of that engineering is to determine the best location based on engineering standards, but Reardon currently thinks it would likely be somewhere between Ring Road and the township building.

Originally, Reardon said, there was a “tiny little bridge design,” but because of various codes, local, state and federal regulations and permitting fees, the cost for the bridge grew.

“I was hit with a figure upwards of some $80,000,” she said. “And that brought tears to my eyes because we can’t ask [township] taxpayers to do this.”

Reardon had been working with Chadds Ford’s Rob King on a possible bridge that King said would have cost only about $3,000 or $4,000. Reardon said they were thinking about using telephone poles and train rails, but they couldn’t get approval. On top of that were a series of other grant applications that were denied, she added.

“This was about my last effort at trying to get some money to support something we thought would be a great advancement for recreation in this community,” she said.

One of the reasons the trail is important, she said, is because it would help build a sense of community.

“Chadds Ford’s ‘Main Street’ is Route 1, and nobody can stand and converse there,” Reardon said. “So, when this came through, it was like shock and awe. I couldn’t believe it.”

The grant, part of the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund, is a matching fund and approved by the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Reardon thinks the amount of money the township must kick in will bring the total to less than $200,000, but she won’t be certain until she sees the actual paperwork.

A second bridge is also needed, but the conservancy will be responsible for that one, she said.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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