Planning and Engineering Begin for Addition to Hanover Trolley Trail

After completing the purchase of 8.45 miles of dormant rail line east and west of Spring Grove, York County Rail Trail Authority has formed a development committee that will create a plan for converting the rail corridor into a trail, seek funding, identify additional needs for land, and complete the engineering that will allow the project to move into construction.

Within the rail corridor (shown in green), three segments have been selected for trail development. The map shows how these sections will connect and expand upon previously built trail sections (shown in red). A capital campaign committee is already at work determining a strategy for a multi-million-dollar campaign that would serve as required match to successfully funnel local, state and federal grants to the project.

With a grant from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Rail Trail Authority contracted with Land Studies of Lititz, PA, to study the nearby Oil Creek and prepare a restoration plan that will include concept plans for addressing the creek’s impact on the rail corridor. Through a design grant from the PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR), and required matching funds from Memorial Health Fund and a bequest of the Robert Doss Estate, the Authority engaged the York firm of C.S. Davidson, Inc. to engineer the conversion of three sections of the newly acquired rail corridor into a recreational trail. In addition to incorporating the findings of the creek restoration plan, engineering will include parking lots and connecting corridors to the existing sections of the Hanover Trolley Trail.