Commissioners approve rail-trail grant application through mall and extensions for phases 6 and 10
November 24, 2025 | Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
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Lebanon County commissioners on (date not specified) approved a resolution to attach to a grant application for phase 6d of the county rail trail, a short segment routed through the mall property that project advocates say will complete the urban portion of the trail.
Tom Cotam, a rail-trail board representative, told commissioners the application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) seeks statewide Local Share Account (LSA) funds and that preliminary engineering and environmental clearance are already under way. "This is the last remaining unfinished section of the rail trail in the urbanized area," Cotam said, adding that the mall has provided a long-term linear easement and supports routing the trail through the building'entrance area to increase pedestrian access.
Cotam said the application amount was presented in the packet as approximately $711,388 and later in the spoken record as $711,003.88; the transcript contains both figures. Commissioners approved the request to sign the resolution and proceed with the application.
The board also approved a one-year extension for the Phase 6 DCNR grant (from 12/31/2025 to 12/31/2026) to finish design work and a two-year extension for Phase 10 A/B (from 12/31/2025 to 12/31/2027) to allow time for easement acquisition, soil testing and DEP permitting. Cotam said Phase 6c (the 22nd Street segment involving road relocation and a bridge) is slated to begin construction in 2026 and continue into 2027, while Phase 6d through the mall is expected to be a short April'July construction window once funded.
Commissioners discussed minor design details, including bike-rack placement inside the mall and pedestrian signal improvements at a 25th Street underpass. The board voted to approve the resolution and both extension requests; no roll-call vote with named tallies appears in the record.
Next steps: staff will finalize and sign the resolution for the DCED application and submit the extension letters for the DCNR grants as approved by the board.
Tom Cotam, a rail-trail board representative, told commissioners the application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) seeks statewide Local Share Account (LSA) funds and that preliminary engineering and environmental clearance are already under way. "This is the last remaining unfinished section of the rail trail in the urbanized area," Cotam said, adding that the mall has provided a long-term linear easement and supports routing the trail through the building'entrance area to increase pedestrian access.
Cotam said the application amount was presented in the packet as approximately $711,388 and later in the spoken record as $711,003.88; the transcript contains both figures. Commissioners approved the request to sign the resolution and proceed with the application.
The board also approved a one-year extension for the Phase 6 DCNR grant (from 12/31/2025 to 12/31/2026) to finish design work and a two-year extension for Phase 10 A/B (from 12/31/2025 to 12/31/2027) to allow time for easement acquisition, soil testing and DEP permitting. Cotam said Phase 6c (the 22nd Street segment involving road relocation and a bridge) is slated to begin construction in 2026 and continue into 2027, while Phase 6d through the mall is expected to be a short April'July construction window once funded.
Commissioners discussed minor design details, including bike-rack placement inside the mall and pedestrian signal improvements at a 25th Street underpass. The board voted to approve the resolution and both extension requests; no roll-call vote with named tallies appears in the record.
Next steps: staff will finalize and sign the resolution for the DCED application and submit the extension letters for the DCNR grants as approved by the board.
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