In recent weeks, Americans have turned to parks, trails, streams, and open space in historic numbers, as a respite from the chaos of the ongoing public health and economic crisis. In York County, the 21-mile York Heritage Rail Trail has become a magnet for county residents seeking fresh air, healthy recreation, and mental relaxation in a setting that lends itself to social distancing.
As a result, the York County Economic Alliance (YCEA) announced the launch of the York County Trail Towns program in five communities along the York Heritage Rail Trail. These communities are York, Seven Valleys, Glen Rock, Railroad, and New Freedom. The goal of the Trail Towns program is to use the Heritage Rail Trail as a platform for economic development by encouraging hundreds of thousands of annual trail users to venture off the trail and into the towns to patronize local businesses.
The ability to launch this program is made possible through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill helped secure a $300,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, allowing the YCEA to provide funding directly to projects that support the program, such as wayfinding, promotional materials, educational workshops for businesses, physical improvements, and other projects identified by each community.
During the past several months, the YCEA - working in partnership with York County Parks, York County Rail Trail Authority, and Explore York - conducted dozens of interviews, surveyed the trail-related services and assets in each community, and sketched out a process that will lead to each community officially becoming a York County Trail Town. This summer, residents will be engaged in conducting inventories of their towns intended to gather feedback on their community from the perspective of a trail user.
York County celebrated new sections of the Heritage Rail Trail in 2019 and anticipates the entire trail completion in 2021. YCEA's Trail Towns program is part of an overall strategy to boost the economies of the small, historic communities throughout York County. Although the first phase is limited to five communities, future phases of the Trail Towns program could support communities along the Hanover Trolley Trail, such as Hanover and Spring Grove, and communities like Wrightsville, which is emerging as a recreational hub at the crossroads of the Susquehanna River, Northwest River Trail, and Mason-Dixon Trail.
To learn more about the York County Trail Towns program, readers may visit http://www.yorkcountytrailtowns.com.
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