$112K Grant Award To Tredyffrin For Bike/Skills Pump Park

TREDYFFRIN, PA — Tredyffrin Township was awarded a $112,842 state grant to help fund a bike/skills pump park, state Rep. Melissa Shusterman said Wednesday.

The supervisors applied for a $250,000 grant following several meetings in which residents in the Chesterbrook community expressed an interest in having a bike track in the township.

The proposed location for the bike park is Mill Road Park, 1400 Mill Road, a 55.9-acre tract that has a baseball field.

“Young people in our community spearheaded the idea for a bike park, which will add an additional form of recreation in Mill Road Park, “ Shusterman said. “ By locating the bike park so that it is accessible via the Chester Valley Trail, we hope to encourage bike ridership and promote accessibility."

Arthur Zadrozny, a township resident in the Chesterbrook development, who worked with the township in applying for the grant, said the remainder of funds for the bike park will come from fundraising events.

“The good news is that we got half the money we need,” Zadrozny said. He said Mill Road Park is the perfect place for the bike track, noting that it is close to the Chester Valley Trail and users could easily ride bikes to the track.

Zadrozny said the goal is to open the park in 2025.

Students Dominick “Dom” Pecora, an eighth-grader at Valley Forge Middle School, and Ronan Lynch, a freshman at Conestoga High School, presented a preliminary proposal to the township's Parks and Recreation Board in July. The board toured Mill Road Park. Subsequently, plans were reviewed by the supervisors.

In March, the supervisors hired Pennoni engineering firm, West Chester, for $8,400 to conduct a feasibility study for a bike track at Mill Road Park.

Pump parks allow riders to use an up-and-down pumping motion to propel the bike forward instead of pedaling. The tracks have hilly dirt inclines and cover about a half to 1-acre.