Greenways and Trails

This is Chapter 7 of The Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the Springfield Township Board of Commissioners on January 14, 2009. Click for full plan [township website]

Greenways and trails are components of a community's comprehensive parks and recreation plan. Through the assessment of linear resources, strategies are formulated to link community destinations and green infrastructure to create a connected community. Trails and greenways provide both recreation opportunities and green corridors of protected open space. Easy access to trails facilitates both recreation and non-motorized transportation. Connecting Springfield Township's parks and other community destinations with trails and greenways will add to the livability and quality of life for citizens.

Springfield Township Greenway and Trail Opportunity Assessment

Greenways

Creating a network of green corridors throughout a municipality is one effective means of protecting the character and landscape setting of a community. Greenways provide an array of direct and indirect benefits that add to the quality of life of both a place and region. Protection of green corridors and open spaces provides numerous economic, social, transportation, recreation, environmental, education, and ecological benefits as identified the following pages.

Benefits of Greenways and Trails

Social Benefits

• Provide access to historically and culturally significant features in our communities.
• Provide opportunities to reconnect with the natural environment and urban fabric of our communities.
• Help to preserve the character and aesthetic appeal of a place or landscape.
• Provide significant new public places which can help to connect people and communities.
• Increase quality of life.
• Improve health and wellness of greenway and trail recreation users.
• Heighten sensitivity to the natural environment by providing for interaction between people and nature.

Transportation Benefits

• Promote non-motorized transportation.
• Provide safe alternative transportation routes for pedestrians and bicyclists which will lessen our dependency on automobiles.
• Provide emergency access via trails to undeveloped areas.
• Reduce roadway congestion through redistribution of users to alternative transportation routes.

Ecological Benefits

• Promote plant and animal species diversity.
• Serve as a filtering zone; wetlands absorb pollutants and nutrients and slow surface run-off.
• Provide corridors for wildlife migration and movement.
• Preserve and protect vital wildlife, plant, and aquatic habitats.
• Improve air quality and reduce noise.
• Reduce stormwater damage and promote flood mitigation within protected floodplains.
• Protect natural areas.
• Connect fragmented landscapes.
• Store and convey floodwaters.
• Clean up abandoned corridors.

Recreation Benefits

• Provide areas to jog, walk, bike, ride horses, and canoe.
• Serve as sites for passive pursuits such as picnicking, fishing, and enjoying nature.
• Connect existing and planned trails.
• Encourage ecotourism.
• Provide landscapes for environmental education.
• Provide connections between parks and other protected lands.

Economic Benefits

• Increase nearby property values.
• Precipitate new and expanded businesses related to greenway and trail use. New businesses will provide employment opportunities and revenues.
• Create tourist destinations which will generate expenditures on food, services, and lodging.
• Reduce damage and financial loss from flooding by providing buffer areas along stream and river corridors.

State and County Greenway and Trail Initiatives

Pennsylvania

In 1991, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge enacted Executive Order 1998-3, charging DCNR, DEP, and PENNDOT, assisted by the Pennsylvania Greenways Partnership Commission to develop an action plan for advancing a Pennsylvania Greenways Partnership Program. In June 2001, Pennsylvania Greenways: An Action Plan for Creating Connections was completed. The plan sets forth a series of goals and action items in a coordinated and strategic approach aimed at developing a statewide system of connected greenways.

It is envisioned that Pennsylvania's greenways network will consist of individual greenways and regional networks of greenways of all kinds. While every greenway is important and adds value to Pennsylvania's landscapes and communities, a statewide greenways network achieves broad connections that are fundamental to sustainable environments in rural, suburban, and urban settings. The landscape connections that will result throughout Pennsylvania will create a "green infrastructure" of open space vital to the health of Pennsylvania's ecological systems and manmade communities. The statewide greenways network also can provide a new connectivity within and among Pennsylvania's communities, and promote healthier lifestyles with more abundant recreational opportunities and transportation alternatives, and stronger connections to cultural and historic places. This connectivity can be represented by the metaphor of the "hubs" and "spokes" of a wheel.

Montgomery County

Montgomery County has proposed a comprehensive greenway network that includes primary and secondary greenways. The County's greenway network is intended to be a "connected system of preserved natural, recreational, historic, and agricultural nodes that provides residents and visitors enjoyment and appropriate access to natural and scenic resources while 1protecting these resources for future generations." [Shaping Our Future: A Comprehensive Plan for Montgomery County, Montgomery County Planning Commission, 2005] Montgomery County has identified four primary greenways and one of these; the Wissahickon Greenway traverses the panhandle of Springfield Township. Additionally, the County has identified 19 secondary greenways including the Sandy Run Greenway, which crosses the northwestern corner of the township.

Springfield Township Greenway and Trail Network Potential

Although the public participation process found support for trails from the community at large, important concerns emerged regarding possible negative impacts from trails related to public safety, individual property rights and the loss of privacy by adjoining neighbors, While Springfield Township is not opposed to the Montgomery County trail system, there are residents in this community with concerns that must be addressed as part of the public participation process in all trail planning efforts. It is important to balance the needs of the whole community with the specific needs of potential trail neighbors.

Networks

Greenway networks are composed of "hubs and spokes." The "hubs" of Springfield Township's network will include parks, schools, community facilities or destinations, commercial areas, and neighborhoods. The "spokes" of the network will be protected linear corridors or greenways connecting to the hubs. The Potential Parks & Recreation Opportunities Map on page 119 includes potential trails and greenways. These potential opportunities would undergo a public participation and decision-making process to determine if Springfield Township would move ahead with the particular improvement.

Spokes

A community's linear resources make up the spokes of a greenway system. Streams, drainage ways former rail corridors, and utility corridors provide the linear resources for Springfield Township's greenway and trail system. The two greenways identified by Montgomery County provide the beginning of a greenway network for the township.

• Wissahickon Creek Greenway — The Wissahickon Creek Greenway consists of significant preserve lands along the stream corridor. First protected as part of Fairmount Park in the City of Philadelphia and subsequent efforts of the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, have permanently protected extensive acreage along the creek corridor as part of this greenway. The greenway contains numerous trails that extend along the creek and some of its tributaries. In Springfield Township the Wissahickon Creek is bordered by lands of the Morris Arboretum and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. The Wissahickon Creek Greenway extends a total of 18 miles within Montgomery County and the City of Philadelphia.
• Sandy Run Greenway — The Sandy Run Greenway extends 6.5 miles along the stream from Abington Township through Upper Dublin and Springfield Townships to join the Wissahickon Creek in Whitemarsh Township. Protected lands along the greenway include Sandy Run Park and Sandy Run Country Club in Springfield Township. Montgomery County has developed a system of 16 multiuse trails that connect the federal, state, and county parks within County. The County system is complemented by municipal trails and trails developed by conservancies and volunteer organizations to create a fully connected trail system. Two County trails traverse Springfield Township; a short portion of the Wissahickon Trail and the Cresheim Trail. These trails and additional trails and trail linkages as identified in the Springfield Township Open Space Plan are described below:
• Cresheim Trail/Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail Connector (a.k.a. Plymouth Rail Trail) — The trail would connect the proposed Cresheim Trail to the Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail and Fort Washington State Park. The trail uses the former railroad right-of-way that is adjacent to the northern side of the Flourtown Country Club. This corridor is located in close proximity to residential homes and will require privacy accommodations or rerouting in areas to address privacy issues.
• Cresheim Trail — The trail uses the former Philadelphia/Germantown/Chestnut Hill railroad between Stenton Avenue and Paper Mill Road. Route 309 and PECO use this corridor as well. This trail would link Mermaid Park, Fairmont Park, and the Springfield Township school campus. The Cresheim Trail links to the Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail via the connector described above.
• Wissahickon Avenue Trail Connector — This trail parallels Northwestern Avenue in the pan-handle and the opportunity of extending the trail across Stenton Avenue through the Mount Saint Joseph Academy has been explored with an extension north to the Flourtown Country Club. This connector trail, if completed, could link the Flourtown Country Club, Bysher Fields, and the Black Horse Inn to the Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail. The trail would be composed of sidewalks and off-road trails within road rights-of-way. Montgomery County has proposed to develop the trail within the township and public meetings have been held to discuss the trail and it potential route with residents voicing opinions both pro and con.
• Sandy Run Creek Trail — Sandy Run Creek extends across the northwest corner of Springfield Township. To the northeast the creek connects to Upper Dublin Township's greenway and trail system and to the west the creek flow through Whitemarsh Township to Fort Washington State Park where it merges with the Wissahickon Creek. A trail along this corridor would promote regional connections.
• Oreland Connector Trail — This trail links the north-central portion of the municipality to the Cresheim Trail, via Haws Lane, Church Road, Meadow Lane, and Montgomery Avenue. Nearby destinations include the Oreland Park, Marlow Fields, and the Springfield Township school campus.
• Manor Creek Trail — Manor Creek flows through the southern panhandle of the municipality across lands of the Girl Scouts of Philadelphia that is permanently protected. Possible connections exist to Fairmont Park via Northwestern Avenue to the north and to the Schuylkill River Trail to the south.
• North Hills Country Club — Oreland Ballfield Trail — This trail linkage is located along the Oreland Run, an intermittent stream/drainage way. This trail linkage would tie the North Hills Country Club to Marlow Fields and ultimately could extend regionally by linking with the Cresheim Trail via the Oreland Connector.
• Wissahickon Creek Connector — The Wissahickon Creek crosses the upper panhandle at the Morris Arboretum and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and a trail link within this corridor would connect to the Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail.
• Other Corridors — Potential linear connections in Springfield Township include Paper Mill Run, Schlatters Run, Joseph's Run, Enfield Run, Sunnybrook Creek, and Andorra Run. There are active rail corridors that run through the municipality presenting possible future potential for additional trail linkages.

Hubs

The parks, schools, library, town centers, and other community destinations in Springfield Township are destinations that should be incorporated into a comprehensive greenway network. Several municipal parks and the Springfield Township school campus are connected to the "spokes" identified above.

Trail Links

Connecting community places typically cannot be totally achieved with greenway corridors and designated trails. Trail links further expand a greenway and trail system by connecting nearby parks and schools to trail corridors. In most instances, a natural or manmade corridor does not exist to connect these community destinations. Links utilizing sidewalks, road rights-of-way, and access easements should be developed to link these community resources to designated trail corridors. Municipalities, school districts, institutions, and private land owners must work together to develop these functional linkages, which connect local parks and schools to the designated trail system. In Springfield Township, links should be explored to connect the Springfield Free Library, Laurel Beech Park, Veterans Park, Wyndhill Park, Cisco Park, Antonelli School and other school and community destinations.

The developed nature of the community and the significant roadways such as Route 309 are barriers to trail development in Springfield Township. Alternative routes or engineering solutions such as bridges or underpasses must be incorporated to provide a connected network across these barriers. To create a comprehensive greenway system that provides the maximum benefit to the community it is important to find linkages across these barriers. It is important to work with PennDOT to incorporate pedestrian and bicycle friendly linkage solutions when bridges and underpasses are upgraded. It will be necessary to evaluate existing sidewalks and road rights-of-ways as part of a comprehensive system of greenways, trails, and trail links.

In addition to the County and municipal greenways, trails, and trail connectors discussed above, Springfield Township should explore the following potential trail links to enhance trail connections to create a community with safe walking and bicycling opportunities.

• Extend a trail on the Springfield Township Senior High School property to the existing sidewalk at Paper Mill Road. Enhance the crosswalk stripping at the Hawthorne Lane intersection and install additional traffic calming measures to improve the safety of the crossing from the school property.
• Evaluate the right-of-way of Mermaid Lane to determine if a safe connection can be made to Mermaid Park and in doing so connect to the Cresheim Trail.
• Extend the trail established from Bethlehem Pike at the recently developed drug store near the Black Horse Inn, east to Bysher Park. A short access easement across private property will be required to make this connection.
• Explore the potential to use the Hawthorn Lane right-of-way as a bike lane to extend a link from the Springfield Free Library to the end of the street cul-de-sac and an access easement to link to La Salle High School.
• Seek an access easement to link La Salle High School to the Cresheim Trail.
• Provide a crosswalk to provide a safe crossing from Cisco Park to Antonelli Institute of Art & Photography.
• Connect Sandy Run Park to the Sandy Run Creek Trail. A direct connection is possible.
• Connect Mermaid Park to the Cresheim Trail. A direct connection is possible.
• Link the Springfield Township Elementary School Erdenheim Campus and Springfield Township Senior High School to the Cresheim Trail. Link the Springfield Township Middle School, via the pedestrian tunnel to the Cresheim Trail. These links can be made as direct connections to the trail.
• Explore sidewalk connections within the town centers of Erdenheim and Flourtown to link to future trails.

The above trail link initiatives are small incremental steps and many can be implemented at once. So undertaking these improvements are an important means of creating momentum for trail initiatives.

Bicycle Compatible Roadways

While trail links can provide small incremental steps toward creating a connected community, another bicycle route strategy is to work within the existing roadway infrastructure. Evaluating existing roadways within the township for bicycle compatibility may revel opportunities for on-road bicycle corridors via wide curb lanes or bicycle lanes. A prime candidate for this is Haws Lane from the high school to Bethlehem Pike with branches off that to the Flourtown Country Club to enable people to bicycle there.

• Wide Curb Lanes — Wide curb lanes are not specifically a bicycle facility but provide an area where cyclists can travel on existing roads. Wide curb lanes should provide sufficient space (typically considered to be 14 to 15 feet from the road center line to the curb or gutter) for vehicles to share the road with bicycles.
• Bicycle lanes — Bicycle Lanes are specifically designed to accommodate bicycle traffic. The lanes are one-way corridors designated for bicycles located parallel to traffic lanes. They are typically four to five feet wide and designated by a solid white line. On two-way streets there should be bike lanes on both sides of the roadway.

All bicycle use of roadways required special considerations and accommodations at railroad crossings, drainage grates, open-grate and narrow bridges, on street parking areas, and intersections. These considerations and a full analysis of roadways in Springfield Township should be undertaken to determine if there are roads with the appropriate width and configuration for the safe promotion of bicycle use.

Intermediate Actions

Since the community is urbanized, undertaking incremental improvements to foster bicycling should be undertaken. This would include actions such as installing bicycle racks in public and commercial areas, adding signage and exploring the easiest improvements to make on roads. Also important is coordinating township bicycle planning with road improvements. All road improvements should include planning for the accommodation of bicycles. This is especially important on PennDOT funded projects.

Greenways and Trails Analysis

Strengths

Springfield Township is located in Montgomery County, which has made greenway preservation and trail development a priority. Segments of Montgomery County's Wissahickon Greenway (a primary greenway) and the Sandy Run Greenway (a secondary greenway) traverse Springfield Township. Montgomery County's trail network here includes the Wissahickon Trail, a portion of which extends along Northwestern Avenue to Stenton Avenue, and the planned Cresheim Trail that traverses the township in the area of Route 309. Connecting to these trails would link Springfield Township to a regional network of greenways and trails and bring the many benefits of greenways and trails to Springfield Township residents. The public opinion survey for the township's parks and recreation plan revealed significant citizen support for both bike trails and walking trails.

Challenges

There are significant challenges for Springfield Township relative to greenways and trails. The highly developed characteristic of the community and the extent of private ownership of land along natural and rail corridors present difficult hurdles in the protection of linear resources and trail development. Although the public opinion survey indicated general public support for bike trails, residents located near proposed trail routes within the community oppose the trails because of concerns regarding private property rights, potential loss of privacy, safety, and security. Educating the general public and land owners about trail benefits and dispelling myths about trails is a critical challenge ahead if Springfield Township is to develop a comprehensive trail system. There is no organized bicycle support group which often helps to educate the public about bicycle benefits, dispel myths, advocate for trails and undertake trail projects.

Opportunities

Springfield Township contains several streams that provide linear corridors through the community. These resources and the identified Montgomery County greenways and trails can be the spokes of a community greenway and trail network. Additionally, there are sidewalks in numerous locations that can expand a greenway and trail network to the township's many neighborhoods. Recent trail discussion has exposed several of the trail opportunities in the community to residents.

Recommendations

Springfield Township is nearly fully developed with open space and linear resources primarily found on private lands. The opportunities that exist to create a connected community are fragmented. The following recommendations promote important linear recreation and green connections through greenways and trails in Springfield Township:

1. Develop a greenway and trail network that protects the green corridors and linear natural resources of Springfield Township and connects neighborhood, parks, schools, and community destinations.

• Establish a trail committee to guide planning and advocate for a greenways and trails in Springfield Township.
• Work to raise public awareness of the benefits of greenways and trails throughout Springfield Township through a targeted public awareness campaign. The trail committee should lead this effort.
• Consider collaborating with Montgomery County in conducting a trail users study in and near Springfield Township similar to studies done on the York Heritage Rail Trail and the Pine Creek Trail in Lycoming County. Use the findings to promote the facts and figures on trail use and trail users. Collect testimonials and information about trail successes in Springfield Township and disseminate this information in a strategic fashion.
• Undertake trail links and hubs identified in this plan as a means to create momentum for trail initiatives and a broader understanding of trail benefits. Providing trails for the following would be important:
  • Providing trail connections so that citizens could get to Fort Washington State Park via bicycle.
  • Safe routes to schools.
  • Enabling cyclists to get to regional destinations such as West River Drive for bicycling.
  • Extend a trail on the Springfield Township Senior High School property to the existing sidewalk at Paper Mill Road. Enhance the crosswalk stripping at the Hawthorn Lane intersection and install additional traffic calming measures to improve the safety of the crossing from the school property to the Springfield Free Library.
  • Evaluate the right-of-way of Mermaid Lane to determine if a safe connection can be made to Mermaid Park and in doing so connect to the Cresheim Trail.
  • Extend the trail established from Bethlehem Pike at the recently developed drug store near the Black Horse Inn, east to Bysher Park. An access easement across one private property will be required to make this connection.
  • Explore the potential to use the Hawthorn Lane right-of-way as a bike lane to extend a link from the Springfield Free Library to the end of the street cul-de-sac and an access easement to link to La Salle High School.
  • Seek an access easement to link La Salle High School to the Cresheim Trail.
  • Provide a crosswalk and traffic calming measures to provide a safe crossing from Cisco Park to Antonelli Institute of Art & Photography.
  • Connect Sandy Run Park to the Sandy Run Creek Trail. A direct connection is possible.
  • Connect Mermaid Park to the Cresheim Trail. A direct connection is possible.
  • Link the Springfield Township Elementary School Erdenheim Campus and Springfield Township Senior High School to the Cresheim Trail. Link the Springield Township Middle School, via the pedestrian tunnel to the Cresheim Trail. These links can be made as direct connections to the trail.
  • Explore sidewalk connections within the town centers of Erdenheim and Flourtown to link to future trails.

The above trail link initiatives are small incremental steps and many can be implemented readily to demonstrate successful pathways. Undertaking these improvements are an important means of creating momentum for trail initiatives.

• Evaluate local roadways within the township for bicycle compatibility to revel opportunities for on-road bicycle corridors via wide curb lanes or bicycle lanes. Start with Haws Avenue from Bethlehem Pike to the high school with branches to the Flourtown Country Club.
• Add bicycle racks and signage to public and commercial areas to support bicycling.
• Create community hubs and destinations for cyclists and pedestrians. These could include:
  • The village centers of Erdenheim, Flourtown, Oreland, and Wyndmoor. Coordinate with the implementation of the Flourtown Erdenheim Vision Plan regarding pedestrian and bicycle friendly town center development.
  • A non-motorized/public transit hub at the Oreland train station with access by pedestrian and bicycle paths.
  • Schools
  • Parks
  • Library, fire houses, and other community destinations.
• Based on mixed response to trails in the township ranging from public sentiment that trails are important to public opposition to specific trails, start with establishing trails and on-road bicycle opportunities that would have a high chance of success. Strive to engage a community group as a trail partner. Use successful trail projects as demonstration projects in order to build public understanding, trail use, and support for future trails.
• Develop a master plan for greenway and trail network in Springfield Township.
  • Use public participation to gather input and provide educational information about greenways and trails to residents. Address and seek solutions to resident concerns.
  • Create a township-wide greenway and trail network composed of hubs (important destinations and originations for people and wildlife), corridors, and links, which maintain the "green infrastructure" of the municipality and provide trail opportunities for recreation, transportation, environmental education, and the movement of wildlife.
  • Create a township-wide greenway network along steam corridors that promotes the ecological benefits of riparian buffer areas, advances the movement of wildlife, and maintains green natural corridors for the enjoyment of residents. Encourage streambank restoration and protection in riparian corridors.
  • Promote greenway and stream enhancements within parks (Cisco Park, Oreland Field, and Mermaid Park) to include riparian buffer plantings and streambank stabilization. Promote one area of enhancement as a demonstration project geared to homeowners as the most stream corridors in Springfield Township are on private property.
  • Evaluate the trail opportunities utilizing existing rights-of-way in the township.
  • Include the eight trails, trail connectors, and potential trail links identified in this plan and the Springfield Township Open Space Plan:
    • Cresheim Trail/Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail Connector
    • Cresheim Trail
    • Wissahickon Avenue Trail Connector
    • Sandy Run Creek Trail
    • Oreland Connector
    • Manor Creek Trail
    • North Hills Country Club/Marlow Fields Trail
    • Wissahickon Creek Connector
  • Develop an implementation action plan to move from the master plan to greenway conservation and trail development.
• Explore creation of greenways and trails through land acquisition/donations, easements, and use of existing road rights-of-way.
  • Seek conservation easements to protect and buffer natural resources along designated greenway corridors.
  • Seek access easements from developers through re-development or new development along designated trail corridors or could extend a link to a designated trail corridor. Work with private landowners to acquire access and/or conservation easements along designated greenway corridors.
  • Develop and adopt an official map for the municipality that promotes the greenway and trail objectives of the township. An official map may identify lands that are targeted for acquisition by the municipality for various public uses, including land for existing and proposed public parks, greenways, and trail reservations. The map may address all or a portion of the municipality. The municipality may fix the time for which public grounds on the Official Map shall be deemed reserved for future taking or acquisition for public use. The reservation for public grounds lapses and becomes void one year after an owner of such property has submitted a written notice to the municipal governing body announcing the intention to build, subdivide, or otherwise develop the land covered by the reservation. The Official Map tool essentially gives a municipality the right of first refusal on a piece of property.
• Develop trails based on the recommendations and guidelines presented in the statewide Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities.

2. Partner with other government and private entities to promote the protection of greenway corridors and development of trails for bicycling and walking.

• It is essential to establish an effective communication system among various governmental and non-governmental entities regarding greenways and trails.
• Work with Springfield Township School District to explore linkages from school sites to trail corridors.
• Communicate and partner with Whitemarsh, Upper Dublin, Cheltenham, Philadelphia, and Montgomery County as well as Fort Washington State Park, and the Wissahickon Watershed Association regarding regional greenway and trail opportunities and initiatives.
• Forward this Springfield Township Parks and Recreation Plan to groups responsible for regional and municipal plans to promote coordination and for incorporation of initiatives into regional implementation efforts.
• Work with PennDOT and the Springfield Township Public Works Department to provide bicycle and pedestrian friendly paths and facilities when upgrades are undertaken for public roads.