New Castle County Receives $23Million Grant For Newport River Trail Project
With so much construction happening in and around our area, it leaves us wondering what’s next on the docket. Recently, New Castle County received a $23million grant to support the Newport River Trail project.
The Newport River Trail
The trail was proposed as part of New Castle County’s Connecting Communities Initiative. It will be a 2-mile paved trail that will serve as a key connection between the Town of Newport and the Jack A. Markell (JAM) Trail.
The trail will run along the north bank of the Christina River. It will start at South James Street extending to the JAM trail at the southwest corner of the Russell Peterson Wildlife Refuge.
The connection to the trail extends connectivity to the Wilmington Loop and to the multi-state East Coast Greenway trail system.
Currently, New Castle County’s Public Works is in the final phase of the design of the trail.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Path
The hopes of this project is that it will provide safety for bicyclists and pedestrians alike. The goal is also to improve the general quality
of life, mobility and community connectivity and economic competitiveness and opportunity.
With parts of Delaware becoming more appealing for tourism, the trail project is aiming to promote partnership, collaboration and innovation.
Comparatively, a similar grant was awarded to Orangeburg County in South Carolina.
Because we live and work in a heavily wooded and high traffic area, this trail should help provide an alternative route.
🚴♂️✨BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! ✨🚴♂️
— New Castle County (@NCCDE) June 28, 2023
We are excited to share that New Castle County will be receiving a $23M grant from the @USDOT for a shared-use path connecting Newport to the Jack A. Markell Trail in Wilmington.@SenatorCarper @ChrisCoons @RepLBR pic.twitter.com/NB3oKxO8Nl
$23 Million Dollar RAISE Grant
The funding recently received to help complete this project is part of a federal grant through the US Department of Transportation. The RAISE Grant was implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration.
Ultimately, grant is meant to support 162 Community-Led Infrastructure Projects.
Eventually, the pathway will improve the environment and provide different options for commuters. The hope is that this type of long-extended trail can reduce the dependence of motor vehicles. If successful, more folks will rely on commuting by bike by foot.
Basically, at the very least it provides a nice avenue for nature-seekers. Regardless, this is a great improvement for New Castle County.
Finally, $21,000,000 is being awarded to DelDOT. These funds will be for the construction of the final phase of an approximately 17-mile multi-use, off-alignment path. The path connects the Town of Georgetown to the City of Lewes. The final phase includes the installation of approximately 6 miles of a 10-foot to 12-foot-wide shared-use path along the railroad corridor.
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