Pedestrian Span Over Newtown Creek Back On The Table

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA - After being sidetracked by the pandemic, plans to build a pedestrian footbridge connecting Newtown Borough and Newtown Township over the Newtown Creek are back on track.

At the Dec. 7 board of supervisors meeting, Supervisor Phil Calabro reported that the proposal is back on the table and beginning to pick up steam again.

“I had a meeting with Mike Sellers representing the Newtown Creek Coalition and he wanted me to bring it to the board’s attention and have it discussed again,” said Calabro.

“The good news is most of the cost of the bridge and the construction of it will be covered under grants and the only cost to us would be an engineering study, which would be a 50/50 split between the borough and the township. We’d be talking about maybe a $10,000 cost.”

In November 2019, just four months before the pandemic, the supervisors approved a resolution supporting the concept and working with the borough and the creek coalition to explore the feasibility of the project.

The idea is simple - to create a safe, recreational connection across the Newtown Creek that would provide a missing link in the local trail system and a safer alternative for walkers and bikers to cross the creek, Sellers told the supervisors at the time.

“There is no safe pedestrian crossing anywhere along the creek as it exists,” said Sellers. “We think it’s a good value. We think there’s tremendous potential. We want to take the next step in a partnership to explore the idea,” he told the supervisors.

Up until 2016, residents had the option of crossing the creek using a pedestrian bridge located off of North State Street. The bridge, however, located on private property was shut down after it fell into disrepair and became a liability to the property owner.

Pedestrians also have the option of crossing at the two existing bridges - one owned by the county on Jefferson and the other owned by the state at Centre Avenue.

But Sellers called the spans problematic for safe pedestrian crossing, noting that both only have a walkway on one side, which makes two way pedestrian traffic a challenge with baby strollers and larger groups

And Sellers said retrofitting either bridge with a second sidewalk to create a safer condition would be a “tremendous struggle.

“The good news is pedestrians can cross in some fashion. The bad news is it is particularly difficult for bikers, walkers and strollers to get across the creek,” said Sellers.

As a solution, the Creek Coalition has proposed utilizing the stone piers of a former trolley bridge at Frost Lane for the construction of a new pedestrian bridge.

The trolley line was discontinued in 1923. It had once traversed Penn and State Streets before crossing the creek at Frost Lane and continuing its journey to Doylestown.

“The footbridge would create a safe recreational pedestrian connection between the township and the borough,” said Sellers back in 2019.

The proposed new span has been included in Newtown Borough's updated comprehensive plan, which is scheduled for a final vote on Tuesday.

In addition, another new span is in the works, this one proposed as part of the Steeple View redevelopment project. That bridge would provide a pedestrian crossing between the borough and Carl Sedia Park in Newtown Township.