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'The Circuit Coalition' Asks For Funding To Continue Building Regional Trail Network

By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--The William Penn Foundation's $10-million grant to design and construct trails in the Philadelphia region has run its course. Now, advocates are looking to tap other resources to continue building out the network.

Dozens of non-profit groups that form 'The Circuit Coalition' are trying to make the case that the regional trail network is a worthy investment. The just expired Penn Foundation grant funded 40 different projects.

The Circuit is their grand plan for a 750-mile regional trail network in the five county Philadelphia area and four more in South Jersey.

Sarah Clark Stuart is policy director at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

She says, "we would like the board of the Delaware Valley regional planning commission to consider putting a very, very small portion - .2 percent - of their capital funds into this dedicated trail fund."

The coalition is asking decision makers at the DVRPC to set aside about $3 million a year for regional trail development out of the $1.4-billion the Philadelphia region spends annually on highways and mass transit.

walker bicyclist ecg
(credit: Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia)

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