Crossways Bridge & Trail is one of the 2017 Montgomery Awards recipients which literally and figuratively connects Lower Gwynedd and Whitpain Townships.

The annual  Montgomery Awards recognized the innovative planning, the environmentally sensitive design, and integral collaboration between the two townships. It also recognized the environmental sustainability of the design.  The Crossways Bridge and Trail is an 8 foot wide, 1.3 mile multipurpose trail, and accommodates walkers, runners, bikers and horseback riders.  It connects Pennlyn Woods Park in Lower Gwynedd, the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association’s Crossways Preserve, and the Montgomery County Community College to Montgomery County’s Green Ribbon Trail, ideally existing in both townships.  Some part of the land that the trail runs through was donated by private property owners, and resourceful and sustainable trail materials were chosen carefully in a collaborative effort to maintain the entire bridge and trail project.

Both townships shared the costs for construction and grants for maintenance, signs, and management of all trails and boardwalks. Montgomery Awards states that:

Project funding was provided from several sources including the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Montgomery County Open Space Program, the Montgomery County Community College, a private foundation, and the two municipalities. As a result of the new trail, the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association has expanded educational programming, including staff-guided walks and training, as the trail provides much better access to some of the richest habitats in the Wissahickon Valley. Members of the community have adopted sections of the connected regional trail, enthusiastically serving as trained trail stewards who monitor the trail, perform maintenance, and serve as outreach ambassadors.

Too see all of the 2017 Montgomery Award recipients, click here.