Lower Makefield plans addition to bike trail system

Lower Makefield Township will soon be even more bicycle friendly.
A 3,400-foot addition to the township’s already extensive bike trail system is in the works for along Woodside Road. Officials hope to advertise for bids early next year, award contracts in the spring and finish construction sometime in the fall of next year, township Manager Kurt Ferguson said.
The estimated $610,000 cost will be funded mostly with two grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, he added. Lower Makefield will use a $352,500 award from the DCED’s Multi-Modal program and $52,500 from its Greenway Grant program, Ferguson noted.
Township Director of Planning and Zoning Jim Majewski said the new 8-foot-wide paved trail is actually a continuation of a trail that runs from Lindenhurst Road and down Woodside to Merrick Road.
The proposed extension will pick up at Merrick Road and continue along Woodside to Taylorsville Road, though it will be constructed on the opposite side of Woodside Road from the already existing trail, Majewski said.
That’s being done to save on land acquisition costs, as most of the land on which the new trail will be constructed is already owned by the township as part of its Makefield Highlands Golf Club, he explained. Lower Makefield has reached agreement to acquire easements on two other parcels necessary for construction of the new trail, Majewski added.
Once completed, the addition – combined with crosswalks across Woodside and Taylorsville roads and some work to be done by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission – will give bicyclists uninterrupted safe passage from Lindenhurst Road to the Delaware Canal Towpath, he said.

“In general, this is excellent,” Lower Makefield supervisor John Lewis said after a detailed presentation on the new trail by township Engineer Andy Pockl at the Oct. 20 meeting.
The proposed new trail has been designed to “meander around” several utility poles to avoid the expense of relocating them, Pockl said. He added in response to a question from supervisor Dan Grenier that the project should stay within the budget discussed over the last two years.
Robert Zuczek, a resident who lives near the proposed trail, said it’s been “21 years in the making” and was pleased it was finally coming together.
Ferguson said the project will be discussed further as part of talks on the 2022 township budget.
“There won’t be any fundamental changes to what you’re seeing here,” he noted at the Oct. 20 meeting.

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