The Two Rivers Area spans Northampton County, PA from Blue Mountain to Bucks County. URDC prepared a greenway plan for this region, which encompasses 17 municipalities and over 100 square miles. The plan points out the complex nature of the study area and proposes a greenway network designed to incorporate natural, historic, cultural, agricultural, and recreational elements. Subsequently, URDC assisted the region in preparing an action plan that the State of Pennsylvania designated as a pilot project for fast-tracking the implementation of greenways.

Adams County, PA is steeped in history—small towns, each with unique offerings; the Lincoln Highway; and many sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including the boyhood home of President Dwight Eisenhower and the site of turning point of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg. In addition to history, Adams County includes the Fruit Belt, one of the most fertile fruit growing areas in the country. Adams County is also faced with development pressure from the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. Against the backdrop of valuable land assets and development pressure, URDC prepared the Adams County Greenways Plan to identify important lands throughout the county and the tools to help preserve the lands.

Darby Creek flows into the Delaware River through Delaware County PA, the county bordering the City of Philadelphia to the west. The County retained URDC to develop a master plan for a park along a three-mile section of the creek from Upper Darby Township to Darby Borough. The county owned key parcels along the creek, allowing for a trail through the entire corridor with a minimum of land acquisition. URDC examined land ownership, desired activities and facilities, and various trail development standards.

The Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor stretches for150 miles between the Philadelphia region and Wilkes Barre, PA. URDC assisted in preparing the Management Action Plan for the corridor and wrote a successful grant application for $2.5 million in federal ISTEA funds. Our staff then prepared engineering drawings and bid specification for a 20-mile segment of the Delaware & Lehigh Trail in Lehigh and Carbon counties.

Our firm completed the master plan for the Ironton Rail Trail which traverses through three municipalities, Coplay, North Whitehall, and Whitehall. The IRT is a loop trail system that is now one of the most heavily used trails in the Lehigh Valley. New residential and commercial development has been constructed and home prices increased in proximity to the trail.

URDC and Wildlands Conservancy prepared a study establishing the feasibility of a greenway in the Jordan Creek near the City of Allentown, PA.  The proposed 50.7-mile greenway travels through many different environments, including:

• 13.0 miles of off-road trail between the Trexler Nature Preserve and the City of Allentown.
• A 35.7-mile loop between the Trexler Nature Preserve and Leaser Lake in northwest Lehigh County, using low-volume roads.
• A 2.0-mile pedestrian trail connecting Leaser Lake to the Appalachian Trail.

Northampton County commissioned URDC to perform several different services in connection with the multi-municipal Nor-Bath Trail. First, we prepared a master plan to identify problems and opportunities along the trail corridor. We then prepared multiple successful grant applications to help fund the trail. Our staff then prepared final design and construction plans for each of the trail’s four construction phases.

In cooperation with the Chester County Planning Commission, East Whiteland Township, Malvern Borough and Tredyffrin Township jointly retained URDC to author the Patriots Path Plan. This development guide showed how to design and build a trail network to link three prominent properties in the region that played special roles in the American Revolutionary War. The resulting trail will be a 6.3-mile segment of the Chester Valley Trail, which will be built on former railroad right of way.

The Township of Spring is a suburb of the City of Reading in southeastern PA.  We prepared a greenway study and developed a planned network of trails that would connect large commercial areas to housing developments and Penn State University - Berks Campus.  URDC developed a greenway concept that included recreation, conservation and multi-system greenways.