The 54th Environmental Partnership Dinner returned to Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to recognize and celebrate those who have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence and leadership in southeastern Pennsylvania. This post is part of a series celebrating the four awardees for their contributions to the region.
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It’s been a big year for trails in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the 54th Environmental Partnership Dinner recognized a particularly historic achievement.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission received this year’s Trailblazer Award for its recognition of trails as active transportation infrastructure essential for getting people to work, school, and wherever else they need to travel.
The award is apt for an organization that earlier this year secured more than $215 million in federal funding for critical Circuit Trails projects through the region’s 2025 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The move marked a historic investment made possible, in part, by leveraging newly available funding opportunities for transportation projects that reduce carbon emissions. Trails not only get people out of their cars but can improve climate resiliency by incorporating green stormwater infrastructure and greenery.
“We want the Philadelphia region to stand out nationally and internationally on tackling climate change but also building connectivity,” said Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell, who chairs the DVRPC Board.
DVRPC pursued this innovative funding strategy with the overwhelming support of its five Pennsylvania counties — Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia — the board’s planning staff, various municipalities and local trail groups, and members of the Circuit Trails community including PEC, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and the East Coast Greenway.
“This effort is an example of what it looks like when our systems work, our planning processes work,” said DVRPC Executive Director Ariella Maron.
Leveraging the TIP process to direct funds toward trails achieved a longtime goal of PEC Executive Vice President Patrick Starr, who also serves as Chair of the Circuit Trails Coalition. It brings the Coalition that much closer to completing its goal of a more than 800-mile connected trail network in the Philadelphia area. The funding will support trail construction in four major Circuit Trail corridors: Spring Garden Street Greenway, Cross County Trail, Chester Valley Trail, and the Route 291 Trail, which would also become part of the 3000-mile East Coast Greenway. Many miles of trail will connect under-resourced communities to transit, parks, and jobs.
Supporters hope DVRPC’s example will inspire other metropolitan planning organizations across the country to invest transportation dollars in trail construction and maintenance. In Greater Philadelphia, it has already set a precedent for cooperation across county and municipal boundaries.
As Delaware County Commissioner Christine Reuther, a DVRPC Board Member and former Chair, said: “You do something once and it’s easier to do it again.”