$19M for a new Camden County trail is held up by DOGE. Officials broke ground anyway.
The LINK trail is a planned 34 mile continuous, paved, shared-use path for walking and biking that will run through 17 municipalities to Winslow Township and near the Gloucester County line.
Camden County thought it had secured a $19.5 million federal grant for its ambitious LINK Trail, a project planned to run from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Pinelands in Winslow Township.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) signed a contract to pay the funds last year, but the money has yet to arrive. The DOT won’t say why.
“The federal government has not made that payment, nor told us one way or the other where we stand with our grant,” said county Commissioner Jeff Nash. “I’m concerned about it.”
Even so, the county has moved ahead with construction. It broke ground last week on a two-mile stretch along Conrail tracks in Audubon.
The initial concept for the trail dates to 2009. Design began in 2019.
“I am very excited about the Audubon section,” Nash said. “It felt good to actually break ground after dozens of meetings, and hours and hours of planning and design.”
He noted the planning has been complex. Eleven miles of the trail run parallel to active rail lines, requiring the county to negotiate access with Conrail.
Still, Nash said funding is essential. Officials say both U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross and Sen. Cory Booker are trying to free the funding, likely ensnared by last year’s DOGE cuts.
“The county alone cannot afford a trail of this nature,” Nash said. “It needs funding by federal and state grants.”
The DOT did not respond to a request Tuesday for comment.
What’s the LINK Trail?
The LINK trail is a planned 34-mile continuous, paved, shared-use path for walking and biking that will run through 17 municipalities to Winslow Township and near the Gloucester County line.
The 12-foot-wide “spine” is intended to tie together local parks, downtown districts, and urban, suburban, and rural parts of the county.
It will link to the region’s larger trail systems, connecting via the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden to Philadelphia-area trails. Officials hope to eventually connect with trails in Gloucester, Atlantic, and Cape May counties, providing cyclists a protected ride from Philadelphia to the Shore.
The trail includes two new pedestrian/bicycle bridges.
One bridge would cross the Cooper River in Camden at Flanders Boulevard, parallel to the Admiral Wilson Boulevard (Route 30), and adjacent to the Speedway gas station. The crossing will be near both Campbell Soup Co. headquarters and Subaru of America and give people direct access to Gateway Park, which runs parallel to the Admiral Wilson Boulevard.
A second bridge would cross U.S. Route 130 in Pennsauken, allowing users to cross from the Camden County Driving Range to the popular Cooper River Park system and avoid a dangerous road crossing.
Jack Sworaski, who is managing the trail project for the county, said both bridges could be under construction by next year.
The county is currently negotiating with New Jersey Fish & Wildlife for access to the Winslow Wildlife Management Area, which would bring trail users through 8,406 acres of woodland bisected by the Egg Harbor River and the Atlantic City Expressway.
The county has secured over $39 million in grants so far for the trail, but that includes the $19.5 million federal grant that Sworaski said remains in “limbo.”
Sworaski expects the trail could cost about $100 million and be complete by 2030 or 2031 — if funding is secured. Otherwise, delays could raise the price.
A connection to hundreds of miles of other trails
Justin Dennis, chair of the Circuit Trails Coalition, said the LINK trail will become an important part of the Circuit Trails, a planned network of 860 of interconnected trails in the Philadelphia region. Currently, 420 miles are built, with another 80 miles under construction.
“The LINK Trail is phenomenal,” Dennis said. “It’s a major connection across Camden County, and provides a spine for communities to tap into the Circuit Trails Network.”
For example, the LINK trail would provide access to the future Spring Garden connector, which is a planned east-west link between the Delaware and Schuylkill trails in Philadelphia. And it would connect to a planned 60-mile Delaware River Heritage Trail loop.
The Schuylkill River Trail, Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, Manayunk Bridge, Cooper River Trail, Pennypack Trail, and Chester Valley Trail are all part of the current Circuit Trails.
The Circuit Trails Coalition, a 60-member network of nonprofits, has sought “clarification” on Camden County’s grant money, Dennis said.
“Projects like the LINK trail do not happen without strong partnership between federal, state and local branches of government,” Dennis said.