PA: How $2.6 million will make the Lehigh Valley safer for bicyclists and close a key trail gap

While cars, trucks and buses are how many get around the Lehigh Valley, quite a few would rather ride a bicycle or walk on a nearby trail.

At Wednesday’s Lehigh Valley Transportation Study joint Technical and Coordinating committee meeting, about $2.6 million was approved for projects that educate and encourage children to use bikes, extend the Valley’s trail network — including a much-anticipated connection in Bethlehem — and improve pedestrian safety.

The funds are from the federally funded Transportation Alternative Set Aside Program and covers 2025 and ’26. The grants are part of a program designed to further pedestrian, bicycle, commuter trail and transit options, multimodal education for youth, safe routes to school, environmental mitigation, as well as preserve historic transportation structures.

“Through the TASA program, planners and project sponsors have the power to reshape communities — creating connected networks that move people safely, and fill infrastructure gaps while linking opportunities, services and people to each other,” LVTS Coordinating Committee Chair Rick Molchany said.

Taking a hike

To help link two of the Lehigh Valley’s most popular trails, $500,000 will be used to build a 1-mile extension of the South Bethlehem Greenway to connect with the Saucon Rail Trail in Hellertown.

It’s part of a $7.1 million plan to close one of the state’s “Top 10” trail gaps. Bethlehem City Council agreed to buy 11.8 acres of land from Norfolk Southern for $4.3 million in October as part of the project.

Meanwhile, $95,000 will go toward adding traffic control and “share the road” markings along Albert Street in Allentown to better connect the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor with Canal Park.

Riding a bike

The Coalition for Appropriate Transportation received $634,122 for programming that includes bicycle safety and maintenance for more than 4,000 kindergarten through eighth grade students across the Valley and at CAT’s Bethlehem location.

Another $634,122 went toward the Community Bike Works, which has locations in Allentown and Easton and goes to schools in the Allentown, Bethlehem Area and Easton Area school districts. Its popular Build-a-Bike program enables about 600 children to connect with adult mentors to learn bicycle maintenance, safety and life skills. Students who complete the program earn ownership of the bike they worked on through the 12-week program.

Safety upgrades

Allentown will get $400,000 to modernize 59 school zone traffic controls and install eight more as part of a $2.4 million plan to improve safety near schools.

Northampton Street, from Greenwood Avenue in Palmer Township to Larry Holmes Drive in Easton, will get separate bike lanes and redesigned intersections to help calm traffic and provide better fields of vision for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. The $300,000 investment is part of a $2.6 million plan to improve the corridor.

The projects were chosen after a three-month selection process. Each project was analyzed and scored based on its compliance with Federal Highway Administration criteria and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission master plans, along with its impact in the community, including safety, cost and whether it is close to schools, economic impact areas or public transit stops.

“What is most impressive about the TASA awards is how the LVTS came together to choose projects and programs focused on safety, families, economic impact and immediate implementation,” said Evan Gardi, LVPC transportation planner and TASA project lead. “These allocations make a difference here, now.”

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