Four local recreation trail projects, including the controversial Low Grade Line, are included as candidates for "clean transportation" funding in President Barack Obama's $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by the U.S. House on Wednesday.

The local projects were submitted by local and state officials as part of a wish list of "shovel-ready" projects and are not guaranteed of funding.

Some $14.6 billion in the proposed economic stimulus package would be earmarked for public transit and clean transportation.

Local projects listed are:

• Atglen-Susquehanna Trail renovation, $25 million.

Some 23 miles of the abandoned Low Grade Line now rests with six townships. The townships successfully sued Lancaster County when it tried to condemn the right of way for a public recreation trail. Most of the townships have expressed an interest in public use of the property.

• Northwest River Trail, $5 million.

The long-envisioned trail would run along the Susquehanna River from the Lancaster-Dauphin line to Columbia. Many of the pieces are now in public ownership.

• Chickies Creek pedestrian bridge, $700,000. This walkway over the creek is part of the Northwest River Trail project and would link Columbia with Chickies Rock and Marietta.

• Lancaster Junction Recreation Trail renovation, $250,000.

The popular 2.5-mile rail-trail in East Hempfield and Penn townships is owned and maintain by the Lancaster County Department of Parks and Recreation. The parks department wants to resurface the trail as it recently did its Conewago Recreation Trail rail-trail near Elizabethtown.

The projects were compiled by Thunderhead Alliance, a Washington-based coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. 


Staff writer Ad Crable can be reached at acrable@LNPnews.com or 481-6029.