Waterfront trail with views of Delaware River opens in Tacony — two decades in the making

A $2.5 million, half-mile long connector trail on the Delaware River waterfront at the base of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge that was first planned in 2004 opened Friday.

The 12-foot-wide trail connects three existing parks with boat launches. Along the way, there’s a view of the river where there was once a heavy industrial footprint and a riverfront littered with burned-out cars. The connector is the latest addition to a planned 11-mile network of trails and parks along the Delaware River from Allegheny to Grant Avenues, known as the North Delaware River Greenway.

The newly paved, 0.6 mile-long pedestrian and bike trail is part of the existing K&T Trail that runs from Magee Avenue north to Princeton Avenue, creating an uninterrupted two-mile stretch of riverfront trail. It connects Lardner’s Point Park at the bridge with the Tacony and Frankford boat launches, giving walkers, runners, cyclists, and paddlers views of the river in an industrial area from which most had long been cutoff.

Stephanie Phillips, executive director of the Riverfront North Partnership, the nonprofit overseeing the greenway’s creation in coordination with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, said the new segment trail connects once-isolated areas.

“This is actually a really great two-mile stretch now that people can enjoy and bike and access the river from,” Phillips said.

The full 11-mile North Delaware River Greenway trail is about 65% complete, with seven of eight planned parks open. The eighth, the Robert A. Borski Jr. Park in Bridesburg, is scheduled for a fall groundbreaking, and is named after the former U.S. representative who was on hand Friday for the trail connector’s official opening. Borski Park is planned for a 10-acre site at Delaware Avenue and Orthodox Street at an estimated cost of $9 million, with possible opening in 2024.

The North Delaware River Greenway Trail starts at Pulaski Park in Port Richmond and is planned to terminate at historic Glen Foerd mansion on the river in Torresdale. Ultimately, the trail will link to the south with Center City, through to South Philadelphia, in a separate waterfront trail overseen by the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.

All will connect with the Circuit Trails, a multiuse trail network in greater Philadelphia and South Jersey that now includes 380 miles of completed trails, with a goal of extending that to 800 miles of interconnected trails across a nine-county region by 2040.

Phillips said the trail segment was paid for through a federal grant from 2004 when planning began for the connector.

“Trails take forever,” said Phillips.

Indeed, the section opened Friday was once part of the Kensington & Tacony rail line. The property had to be acquired from Conrail, and other easements had to be obtained.

A number of city officials gathered for the ribbon cutting, including Mayor Jim Kenney.

“I’m thrilled that we’re here together today to celebrate the opening of this beautiful new trail,” Kenney said. “We want every Philadelphia resident to have the best in class neighborhood assets like parks, trails and recreation centers. Because all residents and especially our city’s young people need safe places to come together, play and enjoy nature.”

Daniela Ascarelli, of South Philadelphia, biked to the event, taking a mix of completed riverfront trails, city streets, and construction detours — obstacles the effort to eventually create a waterfront trail the length of the city hopes to circumvent.

“It’s great,” Ascarelli said of the newly completed connector. “It’s a hidden gem.”