A U.S. Department of Transportation grant should mean big things for the city’s walkers and bikers
by Lee Stabert
The final weeks before spring—when the itch for the outdoors becomes borderline unbearable—is the perfect timing for this announcement: TIGER, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Discretionary Grant Program, has awarded our region $23 million in recovery money to be used towards the development of biking and walking trails.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) were instrumental in winning this money, working in concert with six counties and agencies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The project has been dubbed GREAT-PA/NJ (Generating Recovery by Enhancing Active Transportation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey), and major components include the completion of the Schuylkill River Trail and work on the East Coast Greenway.
Enthusiasm for projects such as Schuylkill Banks—which hums daily with all sorts of activity, from athletes in training to families headed towards the Art Museum to eco-friendly commuters—shows the city’s appetite for innovative urban transportation solutions. This money is a tremendous opportunity to continue our region’s forward progress.
