Manayunk Canal Towpath Gets $1M For Rehab Work

MANAYUNK, PHILADELPHIA – Gov. Tom Wolf and PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards recently announced the approval of funding for 82 projects to improve transportation alternatives and enhance mobility and public accessibility across the commonwealth. And one of those projects has to do with the Manayunk Canal Towpath.

"Building for the future includes improving access to a variety of transportation options and these investments will promote safety and mobility for communities across Pennsylvania," Wolf said.

The administration awarded $66.8 million through the Surface Transportation Block Grant program Set-Aside or Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside.

Part of that $66.8 million will go toward rehabilitating part of the Manayunk Canal Towpath.

To preserve the important historic transportation structure and mitigating potential safety issues, $1 million has been allocated to rehab a severely deteriorated portion of the Manayunk Canal.

The TA Set-Aside provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.

"Our citizens are taking advantage of an array of trails and improvements that enhance the state’s quality of life, and these new investments will build on our successes in making Pennsylvania an attractive place to live and work," Richards said.

PennDOT evaluated the applications and made selections based on such criteria as safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders, and leverage of other projects or funding.

Pictured above is a portion of the Manayunk Canal Towpath

Image via Google