$250K Bike Park Grant Application Approved By Tredyffrin Supervisors

TREDYFFRIN, PA — Despite some opposition from neighbors, Tredyffrin Township supervisors Monday night unanimously approved a resolution to apply for a $250,000 grant for a bike skills/pump track at Mill Road Park.

Mill Road Park, 1400 Mill Road, is a 55.9-acre tract that has baseball and soccer fields. The township’s composting site is next to the fields.

Tom McGarrigle, a resident of Eaves Spring Drive in the Malvern section of the township, asked the supervisors to slow down on making a decision to build the bike track. He asked the board to consider the environmental and parking impact.

McGarrigle said the residents in the neighborhood adjacent to Mill Road Park were unaware of the plans for the bike track until reading about it over the weekend in Patch.

He also noted that in nearby Malvern, a referendum in the May primary resulted in a proposal for a bike track being defeated.

Supervisor Sharon Humble said the township’s Park and Recreation Board has been reviewing the project for a year, noting there are a lot of dead trees in the park.

Students Dominick “Dom” Pecora, an eighth-grader at Valley Forge Middle School, and Ronan Lynch, a freshman at Conestoga High School, presented a preliminary proposal to the township's Parks and Recreation Board in July. The board toured Mill Road Park.

Subsequently, plans were reviewed by the supervisors.

In March, the supervisors hired Pennoni engineering firm, West Chester, for $8,400 to conduct a feasibility study for a bike track at Mill Road Park.

Arthur Zadrozny, a township resident in the Chesterbrook development, said he is working to get the grant application in by a May 31 deadline.

Zadrozny said he started working with the youngsters a few years ago in the midst of the pandemic when they were building their own paths in Chesterbrook. Those paths have since been shut down.

He said Mill Road Park is the perfect place for the bike track, noting that it is close to the Chester Valley Trail and users could easily ride bikes to the track.

He said the park would not be open at night.

“If you want to blame anyone, just see me,” said Zadronzy, who came up with the idea for the bike track in the township.

Zadronzy said he is more than happy to work with the opponents of the track.

To date, the group has raised $5,645 in a GoFundMe fundraiser for the first phase of the project.

Pump parks are trending in suburban neighborhoods. They allow riders to use an up-and-down pumping motion to propel the bike forward instead of pedaling. The tracks have hilly dirt inclines and cover about a half to 1-acre.

Phoenixville Bike Park is hosting a grand opening from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3. The park is located at 601 Franklin St.