Susquehanna River bridge work resumes for Bald Eagle Valley Trail project
LOCK HAVEN – Clinton County Planner Matt Croak says work has resumed for improvements to an old railroad bridge, a key link on the 11.5 mile Bald Eagle Valley Trail. The abandoned bridge, over the Susquehanna River east of the Wayne Township Landfill, will link Pine Creek and Wayne Township trail users.
In a report at Monday’s Clinton County Commissioners’ work session, Croak said contractor Glenn O. Hawbaker resumed activities on the $2 million project late last month, with expectations that leg, Phase Four of the six phase rail-trail project, should be done by June. Croak said the contractor had to delay the start-up for the bald eagle nesting season.
Funding for the bridge work had been announced in January of 2020 to cover construction cost for the conversion of the 860-foot abandoned railroad bridge for bicycle-pedestrian use. The bridge will bring the BEVT closer to its final connection with Lycoming County and the Pine Creek Rail Trail. The full construction cost of the project is $2,058,456. The funding was provided through a partnership among the county commissioners, DCNR, and PennDOT.
Croak said next up is Phase 5 which will run along the Old River Road, connecting to the Tiadaghton Elm on the Clinton County side of Pine Creek and ultimately to the Jersey Shore rail-trail in Lycoming County. Croak said engineering and design work is underway for that phase and the final leg, Phase Six, is in its planning stage.
The Bald Eagle Valley Trail, named for the ridge-and-valley Appalachian Mountain area through which the trail passes, is a project of Clinton County Government, with partners Castanea, Wayne and Pine Creek Townships, the Clinton County Solid Waste Authority, and the Clinton County Visitors Bureau. The western sections of the 11.5-mile bicycle/pedestrian trail are complete and open for public use while the eastern leg remains under development.
The trail traverses former railroad bed, abandoned township roads and active farm/township roads.
