In mid-2015, Lewisburg Borough engaged a design team led by Brian Auman, a landscape architect from Lewisburg, and LandStudies, an engineering firm from Lititz specializing in stream restoration to work on the S 6th St/Bull Run Greenway Planning Project. There has been an extensive public engagement process as part of the project, including 8 focus group meetings, key person interviews, a public design workshop in November attended by 120+ people, and public posting of idea boards for review and comment. In addition, in the past several weeks, an online survey has been deployed to collect information about visual preferences for the final design.
On Wednesday, March 30, at 7pm, in the William Cameron Engine Company training facility, the team will present the results of the survey and review the Draft Greenway Plan with the public. All are welcome to attend. Everyone can help with the greenway goal of creating a more functional, aesthetic, and sustainable pedestrian- and bike-friendly public space connecting downtown and the university campus; it’s a project which will enhance visitor capacity, economic viability, and the overall livability of the Borough.
The site for the Greenway Planning Project is a continuous zone of public open space running along Bull Run Creek (also known as Limestone Run) from Danny Green Field on St Mary Street, past Phase II of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail, through Hufnagle Park and Kidsburg Playground, and extending south along 6th Street to meet the Bucknell University campus. It includes an array of existing park program areas: Little League fields, playgrounds, unstructured open space, a section of rail trail, a covered pedestrian bridge, an exercise course, parking, and formally organized park open space with a gazebo and small amphitheater. Also part of the site is the right of way of S 6th Street, including sidewalks, roadway and other infrastructure. The area lies almost entirely within the 100 year floodplain.
This project has allowed the community to revisit planning for the Bull Run Greenway now that much of the initial visioning from the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Task Force Report from 2004 has been realized. The project will propose enhancements to the recreation functions of the park, and also work to incorporate S 6th Street along with the recently acquired flood mitigated properties between the street and the creek into Hufnagle Park proper. In addition, it will assess the public floodplain’s potential to mitigate flood impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods even as it enhances water quality and improves habitat. The plan will lay the groundwork for future development of the area for several decades.
This project has been made possible in part by grant funding from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
