River trail project rolling along

Hikers and bikers on the Schuylkill River Trail have another bridge to traverse and use as a vantage point to enjoy the scenery.

The Schuylkill Rivers Greenways organization has officially opened the newly refurbished Schuylkill River Trail Auburn Bridge in Schuylkill County.

Some of those who attended the ribbon-cutting last week biked the existing Schuylkill River Trail to the bridge.

Open since late August, the bridge crosses the river in Auburn and West Brunswick Township. The project cost $730,000.

The bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1919 to compete with the Reading Railroad, which constructed a similar bridge next to it that is used by the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad. The waterfalls beneath it are known as “The Chutes.”

The refurbished bridge features a concrete trail deck surrounded by steel railings. At the request of Julia Hurle, the organization’s trails director, people crossing the bridge jumped on it to demonstrate its sturdiness.

Greenways Executive Director Elaine Schaefer said the bridge is the second of a three-phase project to connect Hamburg to Auburn.

The overall project is part of the planned 120-mile trail the Pottstown-based organization is building from Philadelphia to Frackville.

The first phase, which cost $700,000, involved reclamation of nearby mine lands, which included rough grading for trail and access roads, Greenways Deputy Director Tim Fenchel said. The final, $2 million phase involves linking to the Kernsville Dam near Hamburg. That portion of the trail will start just off the bridge.

Hurle said the final phase will go out to bid this fall, with contracts expected to come in next year and the work projected to be done by the end of 2024.

Lorne Possinger, recreation and conservation manager for state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in eastern Pennsylvania, noted the commonwealth has the most rail trail miles. State Sen. David Argall, a Schuylkill County Republican, said the bridge is “linking communities.”

The celebration concluded with officials hanging a banner detailing the final phase of the project on a fence at the end of the bridge in front of the old railroad bridge.

Hurle pointed to another Greenways project: the extension of the St. Clair section of the trail to cross the Mount Carbon Arch bridge, which PennDOT officials are moving from the borough to the commerce center.

Source: Berkshire mont