Schuylkill-Thun Trail Highs and Lows

   During these cooler autumn days I have been putting plenty of miles on my repainted Motobécane, the reason I started this blog. One of my favorite rides has been along the river on the Schuylkill-Thun Trail west from Pottstown to Reading and back. I have previously explained my love of railroads and how I enjoy combining my rides with exploring some of the former railroad lines around the country.

   I understand that reclaiming some of this land decades after it has been abandoned by the railroads can be tricky, and often involves some inconvenience when trying to re-route the trails. However, I don't feel putting cyclists in danger is necessary when making these adjustments, and I felt compelled to bring such a situation to the Schuylkill Trail organization with the letter below:

 I immediately want to point out how much I enjoy the Schuylkill -Thun Trail and believe it is a wonderful asset to the region in the way it promotes healthy lifestyles and advertises the natural beauty of our area. I also believe the trail to be a great alternative mode of transportation in our ever-increasingly congested highway corridor between Reading and Philadelphia. I am an avid cyclist who rides two thousand miles a year on the roads and trails in our area, and I feel that I have a good amount of pedaling experience from which to draw upon, both positive and negative.

   I want to bring your attention to a very poor situation where the Schuylkill-Thun Trail crosses over Route 724, just east of the intersection with Main Street, near the town of Monacacy Station. Because of the height of the trail with the respect to the road at this location, I assume the former Pennsylvania Railroad line had a bridge crossing the road here decades ago. I understand re-installing a bridge for the trail would have been costly, but I believe the steep approaches that now lead to the road crossing are a major problem.

   With all of the riding I do, I consider myself to be in excellent shape, yet I still find it very difficult to ride up these short, steep grades. I can’t imagine how the casual cyclist deals with them! More important, however, is the danger coming down these short, steep slopes into the busy crossing with Route 724, particularly with sight lines to the east being very bad. Cars routinely come around the westbound curve leading to the trail crossing at 50 mph, and I doubt they would have opportunity to stop if someone surprised them by coming down across the road.

   Having plenty of experience with bicycle repair and maintenance, I help many of my friends and neighbors to keep their bikes running in proper working order. I have seen the condition of the average person’s brakes and I am concerned that with the steepness of the approaches to the grade crossing at Route 724, that someone is going to be unable to stop and will end up being hit by a vehicle. I keep my bicycle working at an optimum performance level, and I am always surprised by the effort I have to make to come to a complete stop, in control on this decent without locking up the wheels.

   I understand there would be cost to consider for any answer to this problem, but what price should be put on preventing a severe injury or death? I know there would be height issues involved for a bridge to be re-installed over the road, but perhaps a simpler and less costly solution would be to lessen the severity of the grade. The abrupt decent is just too steep, even for someone to dismount and walk the bike safely down, and the washout of debris down the slope occasionally creates slippery cinder piles as well. I can’t imagine some of our older riders negotiating such movement easily, and I also don’t like to think about very small children attempting this maneuver when their parents will have the own bikes to handle.

   I think a very appropriate and necessary step, at least in the short term, is warning signs in both directions for cyclists approaching the crossing to the steep descent.  I have to admit that I am not familiar with the road markings in that area, but I assume there are signs warning drivers to the trail crossing; however, I’ve seen the speed at which drivers are passing by, and they aren’t getting the message!

   If someone is needed to help spread the word and gain support for funding a project to solve this problem, please feel free to contact me. I intend to use the Schuylkill-Thun Trails often in future years and want to help improve and make it safer for everyone to enjoy.