An elevated bridge allowing users of the Joe K. Trail to cross the Lilly Run stream, was installed this week, according to Havre de Grace city officials.
The pedestrian bridge was placed where Lilly Run meets the Susquehanna River near the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House. The 1.5-mile North Park Loop Trail, also known as the Joe K. Trail in honor of former City Councilman and steward of the trail Joe Kochenderfer, starts at the Lock House, runs north to the CSX rail bridge and loops back to the Lock House.
Mayor William T. Martin said that trail users who traverse a section near the Lock House that was a tow path for the former Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal hit a “dead end” when they try to cross Lilly Run.
Now, visitors can park at the Lock House, walk from the lot, along the tow path, cross the stream and continue north under the Route 40 Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, according to Martin.
“I’m just really happy that we could finally bring Joe K’s vision to completion,” Martin said Wednesday. “It’s just going to really open up outdoor recreation for the citizens along the waterfront.”
The mayor announced during a March 18 City Council meeting that the four-ton, 80-foot-long bridge had been delivered, in two sections, to the building site.
Martin said the sections, which were joined after delivery, would be placed on two previously-poured concrete abutments on either side of the stream.
That installation happened Tuesday and the walkway should be open “in the upcoming weeks,” according to the city’s Facebook page.
Martin said the city is now working to put in fill dirt to elevate approaches to the bridge on either side, as well as put in new landscaping, mulch and topsoil around the bridge.
“It’s going to look really nice,” he said.
The bridge project cost about $240,000 using city funding and an $80,000 grant from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority, said Martin, who noted the city has wanted to build the bridge for a long time but it has been challenging to find the money for it.
The Joe K. Trail connects with other trails running between Maryland and Pennsylvania, such as the Mason-Dixon Trail, according to the website for the Mason-Dixon Trail System.
The mayor said the city will work over the next two years on a number of improvements around the Joe K. Trail and neighboring McLhinney Park, both in the north end of Havre de Grace.
“We’re really going to focus our resources and make it a beautiful area for people to enjoy,” Martin said.
Kochenderfer was present for the delivery of the bridge sections and the installation Tuesday.
“He was one happy man and we’re real proud of him,” Martin said.
Kochenderfer has been an advocate of building a crossing where Lilly Run meets the river for many years. He has been an advocate for the trail, working with city officials and community volunteers to build and maintain it, since 1997. The trail was named in his honor in 2004.
Kochenderfer hosts several community walks of the loop trail each year, telling visitors about the local history and the environmental features along the route.
He said Wednesday that the elevated bridge over Lilly Run was “one of the things on my bucket list.”
“We’ve been at it for a long time, and it was great to finally experience that,” he said.
Kochenderfer said trail users have had to “backtrack” when they get to Lilly Run and find an alternate route to go north. He said the bridge makes the trail a “complete loop,” plus it could help bring more visitors to the Lock House museum as they head past it.
He said the bridge is not ready for users to cross it yet, but a ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned.
“Just having the bridge in place warms the cockles of my heart,” Kochenderfer said.