Sign In
Upcoming Event
Free Newsletter
Grant paves way for Jim Thorpe pedestrian bridge, connecting trail users to business district
Christopher Holland//December 28, 2016
Grant paves way for Jim Thorpe pedestrian bridge, connecting trail users to business district
Christopher Holland//December 28, 2016//
A $2.5 million grant from Carbon County will benefit the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor to build a pedestrian bridge in Jim Thorpe. The bridge will connect D&L trail users to the business district in the downtown.
The 250-foot steel truss bridge with a wooden deck, spanning the Lehigh River, will help fill one of the last remaining gaps along the trail in the county. The trail spans from Easton to Wilkes-Barre.
The construction contract was awarded by Carbon County commissioners to Latona Trucking of Pittston in Luzerne County.
With all funding in place, construction can’t start because of a moratorium on work in the Lehigh River to protect native fish. Construction is expected to start in the spring.
Elissa Garofalo, executive director of the D&L National Heritage Corridor, said that once work begins, it will be a short turnaround before the bridge will be open to the public.
The idea of a pedestrian bridge in Jim Thorpe has been in the works for years, and in 2014, the county received a $2 million grant from the state Department of Transportation that turned the idea into a serious proposal. An additional $1 million came in federal funding.
With the recently completed pedestrian connector in neighboring Lehighton, the bridge will nearly complete the trail in Carbon County. Garofalo said the only remaining gap in the trail will be just below the new bridge in the borough of Jim Thorpe.
