ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A project to connect several trails in Allentown should be a boon for the region, according to one of the state’s top officials.
Cindy Adams Dunn, state Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, lauded the potential of a three-phase project Thursday during a tour led by state Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton.
“This will be a big economic driver for the eastern part of the state,” Dunn said.
The project’s first phase calls for the Martin Luther King Drive Trail to be extended west from its terminus near Fountain Park’s basketball court to the Lehigh Parkway.
That phase is set to cost about $2.3 million and is “shovel ready,” according to Mandy Tolino, who leads Allentown’s parks and recreation department.
Officials hoped to start construction this year but still must secure some permits, Tolino said.
“We want our folks in the downtown community to be able to access our parks. We want our folks to be able to use this trail to get to and from work.”State Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton
Phase two would see crews connect the trail between the parkway and Cedar Beach Park.
The final phase is meant to carry the MLK Trail east from South Fourth Street to the D&L Trail on the other side of the Lehigh River via the Hamilton Street bridge.
Plans show the new trail would mostly follow Little Lehigh Creek between Cedar Beach Park and the river.
Safer commute coming: Officials
Once linked, the city’s trails will make it easier for people to enjoy Allentown's vaunted park system, Miller said.
“We want our folks in the downtown community to be able to access our parks,” he said. “We want our folks to be able to use this trail to get to and from work.”
The project will create “a really safe east-west trail for people who are commuting downtown,” Tolino said.
“Making sure that we have safe ways to navigate our city, both on-street and off-street, is critically important."Mayor Matt Tuerk
Mayor Matt Tuerk championed the parks as Allentown’s “pride and joy.”
A better trail system will help Allentown meet the goals laid out in its Vision Zero plan, an initiative to end pedestrian deaths in the city, he said.
“Making sure that we have safe ways to navigate our city, both on-street and off-street, is critically important,” Tuerk said Thursday.
