Stroud Greenway
Pedestrian Crossings and the
I-80 Widening Project
New Open Houses announced by PennDOT
PennDOT announced that they will be holding 2 new Open Houses regarding I-80. They will be sharing their updated plans for the main section of I-80 from East Stroudsburg, through Stroudsburg, towards Bartonsville.
The open houses will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 4th, and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 7th in the Stroudsburg High School Cafeteria.
Please show your support for pedestrian crossings by attending one of these open houses and making your support known in the comment forms.
Interstate 80 is a critical transportation corridor through the Stroud Region. It brings important tourist dollars to our region while keeping thru-traffic off our local roads. However since Interstate 80 was built over 50 years ago, it has divided our towns, our communities, our green-spaces, and our region.
The Interstate 80 Reconstruction Project offers us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore and enhance as many walking and biking connections through our region as possible.
The Stroud Region Open Space and Recreation Commission, with the help and support of many of our recreation, environmental, and community partners, have highlighted key areas along the Interstate 80 corridor where walking and biking connections should be maintained and enhanced.
Most of these enhancements are well documented in the:
- 2002 Brodhead, McMichael, and Pocono Creeks Greenways Plan
- 2005 Levee Loop Trail Master Plan
- 2000 Godfrey Ridge Greenway Feasibility Study
- 2001 Monroe County Open Space Plan
… all of which are available on our Plans Page.
We need your support to make these important community connections happen. Please show your support by contacting your local and state representatives, and PennDOT (here’s a sample letter) and let them know you want improved pedestrian connections across the new I-80.
Visit PennDOT’s official I-80 Project website for more information and conceptual maps.
About the Stroud Greenway
Matters related to open space, farmland, community character, quality of life, taxes, and development are all intertwined. In the Stroud Region, as well as other areas throughout the Commonwealth and the nation, municipal, and school district officials have realized that many of the costs of development, particularly in areas of rapid change, are borne by the community rather than the developer.
Residential development requires more services than is covered by tax revenues. In short, it is in the best interest of the community to control the demand on the cost side of development by creating, implementing, and maintaining an open space conservation plan. Open space conservation is essential to any smart growth plan.
Smart growth communities are more livable than are sprawling suburban neighborhoods, and accumulating evidence suggests that smarter, denser growth is simply the most economical way for communities to grow. The most successful higher-density neighborhoods – those most attractive to homebuyers – offer easy access to parks, playgrounds, trails, greenways and natural open space. This is one reason that the American Planning Association, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, and many business leaders support the open space conservation and smart growth movements.
It Starts in Parks A three-part Op-Ed series, published in the Pocono Record, outlines some of the many community benefits of open space, parks and recreation. Open Space boosts the local economy (economic development) ‘Sustainability’ starts with parks (environmental sustainability) Parks, recreation promote health too (alleviating social problems)