The Board of Supervisors held another Public Meeting on July 16, 2008 to review the proposed design and alignment of the Liberty Bell Trail and the address comments from the prior public meeting held in November 2007. The Board of Supervisors will review the comments and questions provided at the latest public meeting before deciding how this project will unfold. View the Power Point presentation made by Simone Collins at the public meeting and a PDF file of the preliminary plan for the trail.

View the November 8, 2007 meeting minutes prepared by Simone Collins

Background

The Liberty Bell Trail is only a line on a map today, but tomorrow it could be an important trail for bicyclists, walkers and in-line skaters in Montgomery and Bucks counties, connecting residents to a region wide network of trails throughout the Delaware Valley. The planned endpoints of this 25-mile trail are the Norristown Farm Park in East Norriton Township, Montgomery County and Memorial Park in Richland Township, Bucks County. Throughout its length the trail is expected to link together residential areas, employment centers, office parks, shopping districts, historic sites, schools and other parks.

The name of the proposed trail is derived from the Liberty Bell for two reasons, First, the trail is envisioned to follow as closely as possible the alignment of the Liberty Bell Route which was an inter-urban trolley that the Lehigh Valley Transit Company operated from 1900 to 1951. Secondly, the trail, like the former trolley, is named because a branch of the trolley trackage followed Bethlehem Pike which was the route used to transport the Liberty Bell to Allentown in 1777 during the British occupation of Philadelphia.

A Group Effort

In 1996, the Montgomery County Commissioners adopted an open space plan recommending a countywide trail system, including the Liberty Bell Trail. Upon learning of the proposed trail, the North Penn Regional Improvement Association (NPRIA), a business consortium dedicated to lane use and transportation issues, organized a meeting in 1998 to discuss the trail idea among municipal officials and business leaders. Support for the trail grew and the NPRIA helped form a committee to study the concept of the trail in more detail.

Montgomery and Bucks counties, sixteen municipalities and the NPRIA are working together to make the Liberty Bell Trail a reality. These partners sponsored a grant application to examine alignment opportunities and select the best route for the future trail that resulted in a $30,000 commitment from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. East Norriton Township is a member of this partnership and pledged $3,000 in matching funds to help pay the local share of grant project costs.

Using the State grant and local funding, a planning consultant was hired who prepard the feasibility study in conjunction with the Liberty Bell Trail Advisory Committee. The feasibility study began in the Fall, 2002 and was completed in 2005. Now that the trail alignment is determined, design engineering will be undertaken followed by construction. Some segments of the trail where the alignment is already secured could be developed first by the municipality to accelerate the development process so that residents can benefit as soon as possible from this important community asset.

Based on the feasibility study, the proposed trail is expected to pass through the following municipalities, all of which were represented on an advisory committee that oversaw the study process:

Next Steps

East Norriton Township has begun the process to prepare construction plans for the segment of the trail from the Farm Park along Norris City Avenue, crossing Swede Road and then along the PECO power lines to Germantown Pike. The Township is working with the landscape architecture firm Simone Collins of Berwyn, PA and the engineering firm of The Louis Berger Group of Exton, PA to prepare the design for the 1.25 mile trail segment within the Township. Once the plans are completed based on public input and approved by the Board of Supervisors, the Township will then commence with the construction of the trail.

For More Information

If you would like to learn more, please call any of the following people: