August 11, 2023
Provided Image/Albert Lee City of Philadelphia
A new paved 0.6-mile segment of the Kensington & Tacony Trail along the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia opened on Friday.
First planned in 2004, a new segment of a connector trail in Northeast Philadelphia along the Delaware River finally opened on Friday. The $2.5 million, 0.6-mile paved addition to the existing Kensington & Tacony Trail now allows residents to walk and bike two miles along the riverfront uninterrupted.
Friday's opening is the next step in a planned 11-mile network of trails and parks that will connect Holmesburg to Port Richmond. The 12-foot-wide extension connects Lardner’s Point Park at the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to the Tacony Boat Launch at Princeton Avenue.
"After being cut off from the river for decades, the Wissinoming, Tacony, and Holmesburg neighborhoods now have an uninterrupted two-mile stretch of riverfront trail and three separate parks in their backyard," said Stephanie Phillips, executive director of the Riverfront North Partnership. "The K&T Trail has been long anticipated by our neighbors, and through the hard work of many dedicated partners, we are thrilled to be here to celebrate this important milestone in the transformation of the north Delaware riverfront."
The 11-mile North Delaware River Greenway is 65% complete, according to the Inquirer. Seven of eight planned connected parks are open; the eighth, Robert A. Borski Jr. Park in Bridesburg, should open this fall.
That trail will connect Philadelphians to the Circuit Trails, a developing 850-mile multiuse trail network linking nine counties across Philadelphia and South Jersey.
"The K&T Trail extension has been in the works for nearly 20 years and illustrates the hard work required to connect communities to safe walking, biking, and rolling routes that provide public access to rivers, recreation, rest, relaxation, and joy," said Patrick Starr of the Circuit Trails Coalition.
