By Kimberley Bezak, Narberth Cycling Club
This past weekend, over 50 community members from the Greater Philadelphia region strapped on their helmets and hopped on their bicycles to join Narberth Cycling Club, Lower Merion Township’s Department of Building & Planning and other local community leaders to ride the Lower Merion / Narberth Greenway.
The Lower Merion/Narberth Greenway project focuses on a 20-mile loop route from Bala Cynwyd to Villanova with the potential to connect over 75% of area residents to community destinations via a network of low-stress, bicycle-friendly neighborhood streets. This easy-going, age/ability/skill-inclusive ride started at the Cynwyd Heritage Trail’s West Laurel Hill Cemetery entrance and followed a 10-mile route out to Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden in Villanova.
The City Ave District’s Bike Patrol guided the large group of riders and did an outstanding job with sweeping and monitoring intersections along the way! Event attendees enjoyed gorgeous, sunny weather while pedaling past four arboretums, three local parks, three colleges/universities, five train stations, The Circuit Trail’s Cynwyd Heritage Trail and more!
Making this route a permanent and well marked part of our community is a goal we initially established with the help of the Bicycle Coalition. The support of members of the Bicycle Coalition make projects like these possible across the Philadelphia region.
Riders provided valuable feedback related to existing stress points along the route and the group explored potential workarounds/improvements to fix the stress points. Stay tuned for updates as this project continues to progress and look for a save-the-date for a follow-up community ride. Through this community-led initiative, let’s keep building awareness and momentum for #bikinglocal on the Main Line!