A proposed trailhead will be constructed on Lehigh Street, near the Mountain Top Hose Company on Woodlawn Avenue, as part of the Oliver Mills to Mountain Top D&L Trail Segment project.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Public meeting will outline Oliver Mills to Mountain Top D&L Trail Segment project
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The Anthracite Scenic Trails Association (ASTA) will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday to introduce the Oliver Mills to Mountain Top D&L Trail Segment project, which seeks to construct a multi-purpose trail in an undeveloped area of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad.
The meeting will be held at the Earth Conservancy office, 101 S. Main St., Ashley. It is an opportunity for the public to see the plans for the trails and offer input or ask questions.
According to Richard Cochrane, treasurer of ASTA, the purpose of the project is to make that portion of the trail easier for people to walk or ride bikes on.
“You can ride it with a fat tire bike and you can walk it, but it’s a little rough. So, we were going to grade it, develop it, put some fencing in where needed and make it a nice aggregate or stone trail surface,” Cochrane explained.
A trailhead is proposed for construction on Lehigh Street near the Mountain Top Hose Company on Woodlawn Avenue.
“The benefit to trails, of course, is pretty self-evident. It provides outdoor recreation, which is a big thing these days, and brings tourism dollars to the region,” Cochrane said.
According to ASTA, there will be little to no impact on vehicle traffic, but the trail may be closed during construction.
The project spans Fairview and Hanover Townships as well as Laurel Run Borough.
Cochrane said the trail will be dead-end, but if more funds are secured in the future, ASTA might be able to continue toward Wilkes-Barre.
The existing Black Diamond Trail starts just north of White Haven and goes just south of Mountain Top.
According to ASTA’s website, The Black Diamond Trail is the northernmost segment of the Delaware and Lehigh trail, extending south to Bristol on the Delaware River.
The design portion of the project will be mainly funded by the Department of Community and Economic Development, and partially funded by ASTA’s own operating funds, Cochrane said.
Construction will be funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DCNR) and PennDOT, under the Transportation Alternative Set Aside (TASA) program.
Hanover Township is the administrator of the TASA portion of the funding, under an agreement with PennDOT.
Advertising for the project’s construction is expected to take place this summer, with construction starting in Fall 2025 or spring 2026.
ASTA is also working to connect the Back Mountain Trail in Luzerne Borough to the Luzerne County Levy Trail in Edwardsville.
“People use it now — they walk and ride it, but it’s lumpy and undeveloped or grown over and so on,” Cochrane explained.
That project is in the very early stages and likely won’t begin until sometime in 2026.
ASTA’s volunteer staff works to maintain both the Back Mountain Trail and the Black Diamond Trail.
According to its website, the nonprofit group also owns the recently developed Rimple Loop trail/extension of the Back Mountain Trail, and larger land holdings in Mountain Top that will be developed as part of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.
When completed, the D&L will run from Wilkes-Barre to Washington Crossing and span 165 miles, the largest trail in Pennsylvania, ASTA said.