Bikers and Walkers Have Safe Passage Across Route 13

Right before the assembled dignitaries cut the red ribbon that officially opened the new Route 13 passageway on the Delaware Canal Towpath, Susan Taylor, director of the Friends of the Delaware Canal closed her speech with a common Quaker blessing, "Go well and go safely."

The simple five word phrase has been the driving engine for multiple agencies and organizations to overcome the obstacle the extremely busy Route 13 highway presented in the ultimate goal to create a 165-mile, uninterrupted shared use path from Wilkes-Barre to historic Bristol Borough.

The closed gap along the towpath in Tullytown will encourage more usage by the community, said Nick Forte, chair of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor's Delaware Canal State Park Advisory Committee.

"From a user's perspective, this will get some tails on the trail," said Forte. "More people will be getting out and maintaining healthy lifestyles."

The $1.4 million project created a concrete path that snakes underneath a pair of tunnels beneath Route 13, just north of the Bucks County Courier Times building. The trail continues for approximately .3 miles before stretching out in front of the Levittown Square Shopping Center and on to Bristol.

The passageway is the first of five obstructions to the Delaware Canal Trail to be opened through a strategic plan laid out by the Delaware & Lehigh Obstructions Committee.  The four additional obstructions include:

• The Green Lane Obstruction which recently received $250,000 in funds from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Regional Trails Fund, according to a proposal written by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
• The Tyburn Bridge obstruction that is in design and negotiations with Amtrak for a project to be built by PennDOT. The Pennsylvania Environmental Council is funding the design and easement negotiations associated with this project.
• The Bridge Street obstruction which is in design by Gilmore Associates under contract with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
• The CSX Railroad Obstruction which is underway and is led by the DCNR.

The Route 13 passageway was funded by PennDOT as part of the larger Route 13 reconstruction project.

“This passageway is an important step in our ambitious goal of opening all five obstructions in the next five years,” said Patrick Starr, Executive Vice President of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC).  “Working with other members of the D&L Obstruction Committee, PEC aims to be a driving force behind these improvements to connect the regional trail network.”