Planning commission approves preliminary-final plan for Riverside Drive extension, advancing D&L Trail gap closure

The Allentown City Planning Commission on an unspecified August meeting granted preliminary-final approval to the Riverside Drive extension project, which will extend Riverside Drive north from Furnace Street toward Wood Street and include a major segment of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor trail.

The project matters because it closes a longstanding roughly four‑mile gap in the D&L Trail and is tied to a $21,120,000 federal RAISE grant and other public and private contributions that together fund construction of both roadway and a multiuse trail through Allentown and into Whitehall Township.

Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, told the commission the D&L Trail gap between Allentown and Whitehall was identified in regional trail gap analyses and that a federal RAISE grant awarded in 2021 forms the backbone of the funding. “He’s agreed to donate the right of way for the Allentown section to the city of Allentown,” Bradley said, referring to a private landowner’s contribution that helped satisfy the local match requirement for the federal grant. Bradley also summarized local outreach and past public comments asking for traffic calming, lighting,…