BETHLEHEM, Pa. — An extension of the South Bethlehem Greenway is in its design and public input stage.
It’s planned to be located along an old rail line running near Third and South New streets.
Baltimore-based Mahan Rykiel Associates, a landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm, compiled the greenway master plan and shared it with residents Monday night.
The plan included some of the following as the project’s primary goals:
- Create a continuous trail
- Make the corridor “green”
- Make the trail ADA-accessible and enjoyable for all users
- Create new opportunities for recreation
- Integrate commercial development
- Strengthen neighborhoods by linking the trail with nearby streets
- Maintain a public transit alignment with right-of-way
- Display Bethlehem’s history and future in science, art and culture
- Combine public parking elements
Design possibilities
Tom McGilloway, landscape architect with the company, said it's been hired by the city to bring forward four initial plans and other ideas surrounding the western section of the greenway.
He said the open house was centered around gathering input on what people like, what they don’t like and what the plans are missing.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to combine recreation with bike and pedestrian mobility, along with outdoor dining and programmed uses. So it’s kind of a lot of the best things about a city all coming together in one spot.”Tom McGilloway, landscape architect with Mahan Rykiel Associates
“This is a wonderful opportunity to combine recreation with bike and pedestrian mobility, along with outdoor dining and programmed uses,” McGilloway said. “So it’s kind of a lot of the best things about a city all coming together in one spot.”
The company completed some shadow studies on the property, as well as listed the opportunities and constraints associated with the land.
Some of the constraints included a terminus that right now lacks closure, noise impacts from nearby traffic and the adjacent Comfort Suites hotel parking lot that backs right onto the greenway.
Some of the strengths named were the existing New Street parking garage creating shade and adjacent restaurant uses that'll keep the area active.
City Planning and Zoning Director Darlene Heller said Mahan Rykiel planned to refine the discussed concepts, finalize them and then pass the torch to the city.
City officials would then move to secure additional funding as well as proceed to a broader design and construction phase.
“Hopefully we get a variety of residents and constituents that bring a broad spectrum of viewpoints to the table. And we’ll try to consolidate all of that information as we move to the next step, which would be more of a final draft.”Darlene Heller, city planning and zoning director
“Hopefully we get a variety of residents and constituents that bring a broad spectrum of viewpoints to the table,” Heller said. “And we’ll try to consolidate all of that information as we move to the next step, which would be more of a final draft.”
The extension would add to the popular, nearly two-mile greenway that stretches across South Bethlehem — an asphalt trail along an old rail line that is frequented by runners, bikers and walkers.
In terms of funding an extension project, Heller said the city would seek out grants such as ones previously received from the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
“Sometimes we can find private partners, but we’ll probably cobble money together from more than one source,” Heller added.
Thoughts from residents, business owners
Tina Cantelmi is a resident of Bethlehem’s North Side.
But as a lifelong athlete, Cantelmi said she finds herself taking walks from the upper end of town to the lower end.
One thing she said she wanted to see in a new space like this: a good use of greenery and nearby landscaping.
“I think it’s something that I see in other areas when I travel, and I’m not really sure I see it in Bethlehem as much as or anywhere in the Lehigh Valley."Tina Cantelmi, North Side resident speaking on attractive landscaping in Bethlehem
“I think it’s something that I see in other areas when I travel, and I’m not really sure I see it in Bethlehem as much as or anywhere in the Lehigh Valley,” Cantelmi said.
She said she’d like to see “really excellent landscaping where they understand the materials and the life of the plant.”
Along with that, Cantelmi said she’d be interested in seeing how the developers incorporate interactive art.
She said she’d prefer a space that’s “upbeat,” “ethereal” and “uplifting.”
One South Side business owner, who asked not to be named, said they hoped city officials would continue keeping the people’s needs at the forefront and focusing on community interests.
Resident questions included whether or not this project would serve as the “terminus” of the greenway pending an additional extension.
Heller said the city ultimately sees the project heading westward along the Third Street sidewalk and crossing at the intersection with Brodhead Avenue.
She added it would be a goal to connect the trail to a park in Salisbury Township.
'An amenity for anyone'
Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek asked about public use of outdoor dining space along the greenway, versus current or future restaurant uses.
“We keep using the term ‘activate the greenway,’” Heller said. “That’s really been part of the design of the greenway from the get-go — the idea that abutting property owners would be able to sort of spill out onto the greenway and that it really becomes an amenity for anyone.”
Residents asked about the potential for some sort of performance stage on site.
The developers said the stage would probably be as low as 18 inches tall, attracting small groups such as jazz quartets or other small-scale performances to the area and avoiding “over-design,” especially for when not in use.
“You want it to be a space for people who just want to hang out, sit and eat their lunch or be in the shade,” McGilloway said.
Councilwoman Kiera Wilhem said she saw this as an opportunity to incorporate local artists, inviting them to the greenway to showcase their work.
She said she’d like to see a multi-purpose area that’s “welcoming” for people making their way through there.
A project such as this one would always end in a “net positive for the South Side,” Councilwoman Rachel Leon said.
Similar projects
Travis D’Onofrio, senior associate with Mahan Rykiel Associates, said the Bethlehem project is similar to others the company has completed at the Hagerstown Cultural Arts Trail in Maryland; the Indianapolis Cultural Trail; Atherton Mill in Charlotte, North Carolina; and another in Lancaster, Pa.
The main difference between the Bethlehem project and those would be the infrastructure work involved, D’Onofrio said.
The South Bethlehem Greenway extension wouldn’t require tearing down structures or building a number of new ones, instead just focusing on making a trail and amenities happen for the people.
