Clinton County’s Rail-Trail Project Moving Along
LOCK HAVEN – Clinton County’s 11.5 mile Rail-Trail development continues to move along. The most recent step came at the Clinton County Commissioners meeting Thursday when the county board okayed an agreement for use of Wayne Township’s maintenance office by the rail-trail construction inspection consultant while renovations are done next year on the former railroad bridge spanning the Susquehanna River, a bridge connecting Pine Creek Township to Wayne Township.
The overall trail, dubbed the Bald Eagle Valley Trail, will connect Lock Haven, Castanea, McElhattan, Avis and points in-between to the Lycoming County border and the Jersey Shore trailhead of the Pine Creek Rail Trail.
The bridge conversion to be carried out during the warm weather months next year is termed “Phase 4” in the overall project’s six phase plan. Per information from county planner Katie de Silva, the bridge work has been progressing with final design received and approved by PennDOT, which awarded the county a $2,505,992 TAP grant in June; DCNR awarded an additional $250,000 to total $2,755,992. PennDOT bid the project out and Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc. of State College was the low bidder at $2,862,862. According to the county planner, a small shortfall will be covered by the commissioners, along with some funds for inspection and flagging. Construction will begin in March of next year, with completion by August 2021.
The bridge is 860 feet in length and will be 11-feet wide. The planning office said earlier the bridge will be a highlight of the trail. The Bald Eagle Valley Trail name will be painted on its side and will be visible from nearby Route 220.
The project’s phase one and two are completed. Phase one is a 2.2 mile link in Wayne Township in the middle of the trail. It is a former farm road closed to traffic and runs along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Phase two is a 3.4 mile link along the railroad bed from the Castanea Train Station trailhead leading to Wayne Township, running along Bald Eagle Creek.
De Silva provided therecord-online this update on the remaining links:
Phase 3: 2.27 miles with two stream crossings on existing rail trestles. This link runs through Wayne Township Community Park onto low-volume McKinney Road. McKinney Road will be widened five feet to accommodate bike/pedestrian traffic. Wayne Township has completed the part that runs through its park, and their supervisors have agreed to a final alignment. She said the county is still without easements from certain landowners. She said there is a preliminary design and the next step is an NPDES permit. De Silva projected this section might get construction under way in three years.
Phase 5 is in design; it includes one ramp coming off the river bridge, and widening of River Road five feet to the bridge into Lycoming County. The county planner said the planning office has its NPDES permit and preliminary design for this section but still needs final design and construction funding.
Phase 6 is the connection to the Chestnut Grove Sports Complex now being developed in Castanea Township; one ramp will be required for that phase, de Silva noting the trail project lacks final design and construction funding at this point.
The county had partnered with Tioga and Lycoming counties for a sizeable grant to cover all three remaining Clinton phases of the trail, plus phases in Lycoming and Tioga. That grant request was not successful, but de Silva said, “Now we have completed cost estimates and designs and we will pursue as many others as it takes to finish the job. The pandemic is a big ‘if.’ Will there be trail grants next year? We will see.”
