Bike Trail

After 10 years of bureaucratic wheel-spinning, the second phase of the Philadelphia Valley Forge Bikeway is under way. Groundbreaking for a 4.3-mile section from Norristown to Conshohocken will take place in the county seat near Haws Avenue at the Riverfront Park at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Construction of the path segment that runs along the north bank of Schuylkill began this week, said John Wood, a planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission. Wood has been busy with a crew, clearing debris from the railroad track area for the trail portion through Plymouth Township.

About that proposed bike trail down the middle of the Roosevelt Boulevard: Don't hold your breath. The idea was suggested this fall in a draft report on Philadelphia bicycle facilities prepared for the Fairmount Park Commission. But for now, nobody - not even Peter Odell, the Fairmount Park administrator who developed the blueprint - expects speedy action. City officials are concentrating on filling in several remaining gaps in a trail that runs along the Schuylkill, from behind the Art Museum all the way to Valley Forge.

The Township Democratic Committee has endorsed a proposed bicycle trail for the abandoned Philadelphia & Western Railway right of way, provided the cost is not a burden to the township. Clifford E. Wilson, the party chairman, said support for the bicycle trail was approved unanimously by the committee after Republicans had imposed a gag order on discussions of the controversial plan. "What should have been a nonpartisan issue has been made partisan and political by actions of the Republican commissioners," Wilson said.

John Longo and Joe Kent raced their bicycles along the bike trail near the Spring Mill Railroad station on a sunny afternoon last week. The two 12-year-olds hit the trail several times a week because it is an easy ride from their Conshohocken homes and a safe place to work up a sweat, away from high-speed traffic and exhaust fumes. "We like riding and seeing other people," John said. The trail is something of an oasis beyond the industrial buildings of Conshohocken and the suburban homes of Whitemarsh.

In about a week, crews will begin work on a $1.1 million expansion of the Schuylkill River bike trail, connecting Falls Bridge with Ridge Avenue and filling one of the most strategic gaps in the city's trail system. Bike enthusiasts hope the project, to be completed in June, will inaugurate a busy year of constructing bike lanes and trails, including two more extensions of the Schuylkill River Trail. Falls Bridge to Ridge Avenue is a particularly important piece. The crumbling narrow sidewalk there now often discourages bikers from continuing into Manayunk, or pushes them into an unfriendly high-speed section of road.

From the Schuylkill's west bank, Bartram's Garden offers evocative views of Philadelphia in all its glory and grit. Standing in scruffy grass at the water's edge, you can see Center City skyscrapers stretch toward the clouds, while farther south, massive oil-storage tanks loom like metallic moons. Not many people get to see the city this way, but that may be about to change. Mayor Nutter and Parks Department officials are proposing a 1.1-mile trail to be known as Bartram's Mile that would link the east side of the river to the west and continue on that side of the Schuylkill.

Autumn Pasquale, the 12-year-old girl whose disappearance and slaying rocked the Gloucester County borough of Clayton last month, was a bicycle motocross enthusiast. Now the county plans to name a bike trail in her hometown after her. Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger said Thursday that a resolution to memorialize a new three-mile section of the county's bike trail after Autumn will be on the freeholders' agenda next week. Autumn's family "is very grateful that this bicycle trail will named after her," said Jaime Kaigh, a lawyer who is serving as spokesman for the girl's parents.

When it comes to the Walnut Lane Golf Club, residents of Philadelphia's Roxborough section say the addition of a mountain bike trail or a restaurant - indeed, any change in its use - is out of bounds. Little more than a week after angry neighborhood residents shouted down a presentation of a study on potential new uses of the golf course, Mark Focht, executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission said the presentation would be updated. "We're developing an online summary so residents can give their feedback to the presentation," Focht said.

Democrats are turning up the heat for the May 18 primary by billing the special commissioner's election in the Sixth Ward as a referendum for the controversial bicycle trail on the abandoned Philadelphia & Western Railway. In fact, the race to complete the last six months of an unexpired term in the Sixth has narrowed to a one issue - the trail. The Democratic candidate, Dolores M. Formichella, a political newcomer, is distributing a two-page flier extolling the merits of the 2.2-mile trail.

From the Schuylkill's west bank, Bartram's Garden offers evocative views of Philadelphia in all its glory and grit. Standing in scruffy grass at the water's edge, you can see Center City skyscrapers stretch toward the clouds, while farther south, massive oil-storage tanks loom like metallic moons. Not many people get to see the city this way, but that may be about to change. Mayor Nutter and Parks Department officials are proposing a 1.1-mile trail to be known as Bartram's Mile that would link the east side of the river to the west and continue on that side of the Schuylkill.

Autumn Pasquale, the 12-year-old girl whose disappearance and slaying rocked the Gloucester County borough of Clayton last month, was a bicycle motocross enthusiast. Now the county plans to name a bike trail in her hometown after her. Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger said Thursday that a resolution to memorialize a new three-mile section of the county's bike trail after Autumn will be on the freeholders' agenda next week. Autumn's family "is very grateful that this bicycle trail will named after her," said Jaime Kaigh, a lawyer who is serving as spokesman for the girl's parents.

As cyclists whizzed by on the Schuylkill path, Mayor Nutter and a host of bike advocates announced a new coalition aimed at completing 750 miles of trails over the next 20 years in the Philadelphia region. About 250 miles of the bike and pedestrian roadways have been completed, and 50 more are "in progress," said Alex Doty, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia, a member of the new coalition. Finishing the remaining 450 miles of trails and connecting them to current routes is expected to cost $250 million, or about $12.5 million annually for 20 years, Doty said.

In about a week, crews will begin work on a $1.1 million expansion of the Schuylkill River bike trail, connecting Falls Bridge with Ridge Avenue and filling one of the most strategic gaps in the city's trail system. Bike enthusiasts hope the project, to be completed in June, will inaugurate a busy year of constructing bike lanes and trails, including two more extensions of the Schuylkill River Trail. Falls Bridge to Ridge Avenue is a particularly important piece. The crumbling narrow sidewalk there now often discourages bikers from continuing into Manayunk, or pushes them into an unfriendly high-speed section of road.

Montgomery County officials yesterday announced the arrest of a 17-year-old Norristown boy in connection with a July 22 confrontation on the Schuylkill River Bike Trail in Plymouth Township that ended in gunfire. When police searched the juvenile's home Friday, they also found what District Attorney Risa Ferman called a bicycle "chop shop. " Ferman said the boy was somehow obtaining bicycles, deconstructing them and using the parts to build other bikes for resale. Cops are investigating whether the bikes were stolen, Ferman said.

A proposed three-mile bicycle-pedestrian trail from Camden to Merchantville would cost about $1.5 million, planners said yesterday, as they examined routes for an ambitious network of paths linking Camden to neighboring suburbs. Local officials and trail enthusiasts hope that Camden, currently isolated by freeways, bridges, and poverty, will be among about 50 American cities to receive millions of dollars for trails when a federal transportation spending bill is reauthorized next year.

When it comes to the Walnut Lane Golf Club, residents of Philadelphia's Roxborough section say the addition of a mountain bike trail or a restaurant - indeed, any change in its use - is out of bounds. Little more than a week after angry neighborhood residents shouted down a presentation of a study on potential new uses of the golf course, Mark Focht, executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission said the presentation would be updated. "We're developing an online summary so residents can give their feedback to the presentation," Focht said.

He is still mum on whether he is running to win a mayoral seat or keep his congressional one, but U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Phila.) left little doubt yesterday that he was gunning for something as he raced around the city handing out $17.5 million in federal grant money. And he didn't do it alone. Several political heavyweights joined the six-term congressman at various points during a daylong road trip that included six stops in Philadelphia and one in Glenside. "Any time there's an issue at the federal level, Chaka has been there for us," Philadelphia schools chief Paul Vallas said as he thanked him for a $3.2 million grant to improve school safety zones, including adding flashing yellow traffic lights at every school corner.

Maureen Dowd is a columnist for the New York Times How could President Bush be cavorting around on a long vacation with American troops struggling with a spiraling crisis in Iraq? Wasn't he worried that his vacation activities might send a frivolous signal at a time when he had put so many young Americans in harm's way? "I'm determined that life goes on," Bush said stubbornly. That wasn't the son, believe it or not. It was the father - 15 years ago. I was in Kennebunkport, Maine, then to cover the first President Bush's frenetic attempts to relax while reporters were pressing him about how he could be taking a month to play around when he had started sending American troops to the Persian Gulf only three days before.