We biked on the new Jack A. Markell Trail from Wilmington to New Castle and part of the Michael Castle Trail cutting westward across Delaware.
Four years ago, I was on a bike ride from Wilmington, Delaware, that had us meandering through some industrial areas, navigating the traffic headed for I-295 and riding on Delaware highway 9 just to get to New Castle seven miles away. We met the governor at the time, a cyclist, and he bluntly told us that it wasn’t a great route … and that better was coming.
Better has finally arrived, and it’s not just better, it’s fabulous: a trail from the environmental center in the middle of the Wilmington riverfront’s wildlife refuge all the way to New Castle. One beautiful bridge over the Christina River visible from I-95, two well-lit tunnels, under I-495 and I-295, one long boardwalk through the wildlife refuge, plus woods in another section. Great variety!
It’s always exciting to read about gaps in the East Coast Greenway being closed. There’s been good news in Delaware and Maryland (and of course Connecticut, which I’ve written about earlier).
Delaware Gov. Markell and the East Coast Greenway ride in 2014
Back in 2014, I took part in my first East Coast Greenway Week-A-Year ride, pedaling from Philadelphia to Fredericksburg, Va. We rode on some great trails, of course, but we also were on roads plenty of times (some good, some bad).
So I was excited to come across two items Friday that show gaps on the trail are being closed.
One of the most ambitious projects that will now be completed with this authorized funding is the Wilmington-New Castle Greenway, a safe, direct, paved, flat and nearly uninterrupted non-motorized six-mile travel route between the Wilmington Riverfront and downtown New Castle. Another project that will gain additional momentum is the Lewes-Georgetown Trail, a 10 foot wide paved trail that will extend a total of 17 miles all the way from Lewes to Georgetown, creating the longest trail in Delaware.
The East Coast Greenway goes from Wilmington to New Castle; maybe one day there will be a direct Wilmington-Newark route. No word yet on how quickly construction can happen, but it’s still a great step.
The Lewes-Georgetown Trail isn’t part of the East Coast Greenway but it’s about getting people to and around the beaches. and of course people already are biking on vacation — here’s a recent news article about some badly needed signage down in Rehoboth. Another bonus: it connects to New Jersey and the Cape May area via the ferry at Lewes.
Some of the 2014 group advocating for a safe crossing in Perryville
The day’s other news is that the bridge over the Susquehanna River between Perryville and Havre de Grace opened for bikes on Friday. This is a great victory! Sure, there are some complaints (and yes, we have to pay the toll too), but it’s far better than being barred. When we were here in 2014, the boats that were to shuttle us over never showed (they got the wrong day), so we were bused over the bridge.
Bridges. That’s the costly and really time-consuming part. If it had taken a new bridge to close this gap, we’d be waiting a long time. It’s also the gap in the WB&A trail from Washington to Baltimore. We rode part of this trail in 2014 too. The East Coast Greenway route goes from Baltimore to D.C. via Annapolis, and the vision is have a traffic-free route there too. A 1.7-mile gap on that leg closed in May because a developer realized it made sense for his own project (no doubt with some prompting).
But I always wonder what could be done to make bike bridges less expensive. Would more prefab parts help, vs. constructing on site? Do construction standards require that they be able to support something as heavy as an ambulance and that adds to the cost? Can anything be done? Or is this just the unfortunate reality?
Our boatless adventures from Wilmington to Havre de Grace.
We were supposed to be like Washington crossing the Delaware, getting on barges to cross the Susquehanna from Perryville to Havre de Grace in Maryland.
But somehow the boat people thought this was happening on Wednesday, not Monday. So we became more like Dunkirk, mustering vehicles of every size to get us across the no-bikes-allowed bridge.
Today’s 50-mile route was bookended by two fabulous trails: The Schuylkill River Trail and the Northern Delaware Greenway trail.
Today’s 50-mile route was bookended by two fabulous trails: The Schuylkill River Trail that runs from Conshohocken (actually 27 miles from Valley Forge, or even beyond, with some road bits) to Philadelphia, and the Northern Delaware Greenway trail, which runs for at least nine miles, sometimes in sight of I-95(!), and connects several parks before it essentially dumped us out in downtown Wilmington.
From the Schuylkill…
… to the wooded Northern Delaware Greenway
In between was plenty of urban grit and some surprises, such as the view of the Philadelphia skyline from Bartram’s Garden. And then the birds enjoying the wetlands of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge within sight of the airport.
Of course we also stumbled across odd stuff too, like the groups of guys who drove their cars onto the piers under the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester. Not that there looked like there was much to do in town.
If you don’t ask, you don’t get. So I’m excited to see a number of “ask” (and “thank”) events as part of the Week-a-Year ride. Here’s what’s planned as of now.
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
So I’m excited to see a number of “ask” (and “thank”) events as part of the Week-a-Year ride.
– A rally in Perryville, Maryland, in support of a bike-friendly crossing over the Susquehanna River.
– Happy Hour with Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides and state officials. I’ll be thanking state officials for the just-opened bike beltway in Towson, Maryland, one of our overnight spots. I’m hoping it can connect the East Coast Greenway and downtown Towson.
– A photo event and signage installation in Alexandria, Virginia.
Personally, I’d like to thank Philadelphia for the Spring Garden Street Greenway now in the works. It will connect the popular Schuylkill River route and the East Coast Greenway.
Exploring by bicycle 