DVRPC low-stress connectivity, Norristown area
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is pleased to announce our newest initiative: Technical Assistance for Suburban Circuit Communities, aka “TASCC.” This strategic effort is being established to aid suburban local activists and decision-makers who want to connect their community to The Circuit, our region’s 800+ mile network of multi-use trails.
When The Circuit is complete, it will connect to communities all over our 9-county region. As extensive as it will be, most townships and boroughs will still lack safe routes connecting their residents to Circuit Trails.
The TASCC program seeks to remedy this situation by providing technical assistance to local communities so that they can identify “low stress connections” to the nearest Circuit segment. These interventions can vary from something as simple as signing and mapping an existing connection via side roads to more complex interventions involving bike/ped infrastructure improvements to key roadways and intersections.
When complete, each project will give its host community a viable proposal for a safe on-road connection that can be pursued either at the county, PennDOT District level (through resurfacing projects or capital projects) and state/federal levels (via multimodal, TAP applications and other funding sources). These new connections will increase access to nature and recreation, but also enhance the region’s vast bike and ped transportation network.
This program will be administered by our Regional Planner, Leonard Bonarek. If you’d like to learn more about how to better connect your community to The Circuit, reach out to him: leonard@bicyclecoalition.org.
In the coming weeks, we’ll have a launch party. Stay tuned to the BCGP or Biking the Suburbs Facebook page/group for details.
This is very important. Cyclists need safe and certain routes to off road trails, which is necessary to help those off road trails reach their full potential. The City of Philadelphia has developed such signage — with the encouragement, route guidance and funds from the Coalition and the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia. But the counties have not done this. They definitely need to develop signage on well considered routes to guide cyclists to Circuit trails.
This sounds wonderful. Princeton needs to have a connection to the Lawrence Hopewell Trail and maybe even the Freedom Trail.