Chester Valley Trail to overlap with future King of Prussia Rail Project
SEPTA, Montgomery County Planning Commission reach design and construction agreement
As work on the Chester Valley Trail nears completion, Montgomery County officials authorized an agreement for design and construction related to the future King of Prussia Rail project.
The agreement between the Montgomery County Planning Commission and SEPTA establishes reimbursements and other procedural guidelines. Once construction begins, a portion of the proposed rail line expansion is slated to overlap with the Chester Valley Trail, according to Bill Hartman, trails and open space planning manager with the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
Improvements to the Chester Valley Trail route offer paths through Upper Merion Township, Bridgeport and Norristown, where it will connect in the county seat with the existing Schuylkill River Trail, Hartman said. It’s set to open in early March.
Referencing the King of Prussia train venture, which once completed, will add five extra stops along the Norristown High Speed Line, extending it by four miles, according to Hartman. While a goal to begin construction was set for 2025, one of those proposed stops would be located near the intersection of Henderson Road and Saulin Boulevard.
“East of the planned Henderson Road station, the King of Prussia road’s elevated tracks will cross over the Chester Valley Trail at Saulin Boulevard,” Hartman told county commissioners during a meeting earlier this month. “SEPTA is going to temporarily occupy land within the Chester Valley Trail’s right-of-way at the overhead rail crossing to facilitate construction of the elevated guideway structure.”
Hartman added that the contract brought forth during the Feb. 2 meeting would effectively replace an existing 2021 reimbursement agreement in order to account for further changes throughout the design and construction process.
Specifically, conditions associated with the new agreement stip