Chester Valley Trail Extension To Norristown Opening Delayed

NORRISTOWN — The completion of a 3.8-mile extension of the Chester Valley Trail into Montgomery County has been delayed primarily due to a slowdown in manufacturing supplies, county officials said Thursday.

The extension will link the existing 14.5-mile portion of the Chester Valley Trail, which currently runs from Exton to King of Prussia, through Bridgeport to Norristown, to the Schuylkill River Trail.

Other issues impacting the delay are stormwater control and design changes.

Bill Hartman, county open space planner, said he is hopeful the extension will be complete in 2022.

Hartman said it's possible that the extension may not be ready until April 2023. The initial projected date for completion was October 2022.

“I am doing everything I can to get it completed in 2022,” he said during the county commissioners’ meeting Thursday.

Hartman said the construction costs, which will be reimbursed by the federal government, went $2M higher than the $14.5M budgeted in 2019.

The commissioners then approved the additional construction costs, which is required for reimbursement.

“If you drive anywhere in the Upper Merion or Bridgeport area you may come across some of the construction in the area that is going on,” Hartman said.

The trail extension includes installing two pedestrian bridges at South Gulph Road and Henderson Road, enhancing two bridges for increased bike and pedestrian use, and renovating the historic freight station building at the confluence of the Chester Valley Trail and the Schuylkill River Trail in Norristown.