Burlington County just got $500,000 to improve its trails. Here’s what the money is going toward.

Trail improvements are headed to Burlington County, though it will be years before they can be enjoyed by the public.

The county will be using nearly $500,000 in grant funding for feasibility studies and engineering designs for multiple trail projects.

Awarded at the end of June and funded by the nonprofit William Penn Foundation, the grants are just a fraction of the more than $4.5 million awarded for trail projects in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as part of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Regional Trail Program.

“Burlington County’s parks and outdoor spaces are among our most important assets, and we are excited by the opportunities to expand the County’s network of trails into additional areas,” Burlington County Commissioner Deputy Director Allison Eckel said in a statement announcing the funding. “These new trails will enhance our parks and open spaces and improve mobility throughout our county.”

The majority of the grant funding, about $400,000, will go toward the engineering design costs for a 4-mile trail segment through Mount Laurel from the Rowan College at Burlington County campus across Route 38 to the Melvin and Florence Levin Nature Conservancy off Centerton Road.

The grant covers about 40% of the total expected design costs for the project, the county said.

Burlington County intends to cover the remaining design costs in its 2027 capital projects budget and will likely contract with a design consultant for the project in early 2027, according to county officials. During the 12 to 18 months in which permitting work is being done, the county will pursue additional grant funding to cover construction costs with the goal of breaking ground in 2029.

The remaining $85,000 in grant funding will pay for a feasibility study for an approximately 9-mile route on the Rancocas Creek Greenway Trail from Rowan College at Burlington County in Mount Laurel to Historic Smithville Park in Eastampton. The county will also study a Mount Holly to Medford trail spur to connect both community’s downtown business districts.

The county expects to have a consultant team on board by the end of the year for both studies. The work will likely take about six months to complete, the county said, with results likely to be published next spring or summer.

Both trails are expected to become part of the Circuit Trails network — a vast regional network of hundreds of miles of multi-use trails planned throughout South Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The county has multiple other trail projects in the works including a new 4-mile trail linking Willingboro Lakes Park with Mill Creek Park, a 13-mile extension of the Delaware River Heritage Trail, and a connecting 3.25-mile extension of the Kinkora Trail.

Earlier this year, the county also completed an initial study to potentially create another 50 miles of trails through Mount Laurel, Moorestown, Evesham, Maple Shade, Medford, Tabernacle, Southampton, and Shamong.