Details of trail proposal offered

Enthusiasm and skepticism mingled at Springfield Township High School Monday as city dwellers and suburbanites took a detailed look at the proposed Cresheim Trail.

An evening workshop was held in the school cafeteria to gauge the feasibility of the proposed pedestrian and bicycle trail, which, if approved, will link Valley Green with Fort Washington State Park via Cheltenham and Springfield.

Visitors filled out survey questionnaires and wandered among exhibition stations featuring maps, aerial photographs, and a video.

Opinion seemed divided between those residents who hoped to use the trails and those who live along the proposed route, with those in both categories finding themselves somewhere in the middle.

Warren Thomas, a resident of the 7800 block of Cobden Road, Laverock, said he would like to use the trail for bicycling, but he and his neighbors worried about a so-called "temporary alternative route" that the maps showed along their street.

"Having a trail near us will be a benefit, provided it's done correctly," he said.