SPRING GROVE, Pa. — The York County Rail Trail will open a new two-mile section of the Hanover Trolley Trail and begin construction on an additional one-mile section of trail in the coming year, officials announced Friday.
The projects will close the gaps between existing sections of the Trolley Trail in Hanover and Spring Grove, to provide county residents with a rail trail experience complementing the very popular Heritage Rail Trail, officials said in a press release.
"Just three short years ago, the (York County Rail Trail) Authority purchased 8.5 miles of dormant rail line located between Hanover and the village of Bair in West Manchester Township and embarked on an estimated $14 million project to expand and complete the Hanover Trolley Trail," the announcement said. "Originally envisioned in the 1970s to share occupancy with a sixteen-mile Met-Ed utility corridor, the Trolley Trail now has a parallel corridor that offers many advantages for trail development."
Soon after the rail purchase, the authority salvaged the rails and gained over $400,000, which today has been used to leverage over $4.7 million in county, state, and federal grants for Hanover Trolley Trail development.
“In 2024, we expect to have $2.5 million in new construction underway," chairman Frank Kempf said. "The next logical step is to continue expansion of the Hanover Trolley Trail, moving closer to a continuous trail from Hanover to Spring Grove. Beyond that goal, we’re also beginning to envision a future connection to the Heritage Rail Trail.”
With the rail corridor purchase also came the challenge of restoring adjacent portions of Oil Creek, an impaired tributary of Codorus Creek. This challenge has been met with an additional $1.6 million in watershed restoration grants, opening the opportunity to design a rail trail that will bring the walking and cycling public into a working wetland environment.
“While our thirty-three-year history of building the county’s rail trails has never included the need to restore a creek, we understand our responsibility to improve the natural environment that will surround this new trail section," executive director Gwenyth Loose said. "We know the result will be a beautiful rail trail.”
“In recent years, rail trail developers across Pennsylvania have recognized these stacked benefits,” added York County Economic Alliance vice-president and authority member, Silas Chamberlin. “As it grows in length, the Hanover Trolley Trail will offer the visiting public an outdoor recreational experience of trail and wetlands, which in turn will boost the economy of the greater Hanover area.”
The authority said it will announce a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early 2024 to open two miles of new trail in Jackson Township and another ceremony in spring 2024 to begin construction in Heidelberg Township.
A public open house is also slated for January 18, 2024, from 4-6 p.m. at Christ’s American Baptist Church, Spring Grove, to present these plans and gather public responses for future trail development.
