Four local projects receive grants from Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners has announced that 23 projects in the county will receive Montco 2040 Implementation Grants in the 2021 cycle of the program. Locally, four projects received a grant. They are:

Ambler – Knight Park Community Garden Grant Award: $43,000
Ambler is in the beginning stages of starting a community garden at Knights Park. While funds would be used for gardening supplies, they will be used primarily for a fence and gate around the garden. The area to be used for the community garden is a sunny corner of the park and seeks to provide a space for the community to learn more about growing their own food.

Lower Gwynedd – Dager Road/Penllyn Pike Trail Crossing Grant Award: $61,400
Lower Gwynedd will realign an existing, skewed trail crossing of the Penllyn Pike Trail as it crosses Dager Road. Additionally, it will pave the trail approaches to Dager Road and install updated trail crossing signage and pavement markings. The updated trail crossing will meet current ADA, PennDOT, and other applicable design standards and make the crossing safer for all users.

Upper Dublin – Twining Valley Park (Phase 2) – Graduated Bike Park Grant Award: $200,000
Upper Dublin will proceed with the second phase of renovations to its new township-owned site. This phase involves construction of a bike playground and pumptrack at Twining Valley Park, a former golf course that is being transformed into a dynamic township amenity.

Whitpain – PECO Trail Extension Grant Award: $196,300
Whitpain will construct a .75-mile section of its proposed PECO Trail. The improvements will consist of an 8-foot-wide asphalt trail in addition to a stepping stone creek crossing. When completed, the PECO trail will provide a trail connection to adjoining townships, neighborhoods, office complexes, local parks, and two regional trails.

The latest grants continue a program aimed at implementing the county comprehensive plan, Montco 2040: A Shared Vision. The program’s intent is to assist municipalities in making targeted physical improvements that achieve real progress toward the goals of the plan and the plan’s themes of Connected Communities, Sustainable Places, and Vibrant Economy. 

Overall, the latest round of grants accounts for more than $2,500,000 across 23 municipalities. The county received a total of 31 applications from municipalities, totaling just over $4 million in requests. Projects were evaluated in terms of impact, county and local planning consistency, project readiness, and funding attributes by a committee consisting of Montgomery County Planning Commission Board members and interdepartmental county staff.

“When we started the Montco 2040 Implementation Grant Program, I was excited to see what kind of projects would come out of the program and how municipalities would take up the county’s offer to help implement the comprehensive plan at the local level. Now at year six, we have seen a number of fantastic projects funded through this initiative. These projects range from improvements in walkability with sidewalk installation projects in Lower Frederick and Lower Moreland, a major bike infrastructure project in Pottstown, to open space preservation in Upper Salford,” said Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

Since the initiation of the Montco 2040 Implementation Grant Program in 2016, 95 grants totaling over $10.2 million have been awarded to benefit 46 municipalities in the county.