A portion of the Schuylkill River Trail will close on Monday for the remainder of the year, as crews work to reconnect the Manayunk Canal to the Schuylkill River, between Manyunk and Miquon.
Map of the portion of the Schuylkill River Trail that will be closed through the end of 2023. (Courtesy of the Philadelphia Water Department)
The canal was historically used to send coal to textile mills. However, the canal was cut off from the river in the 1940s, and there’s been no steady flow of water coming out of it since.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of trail users who have that mixed emotion of being sad that [the trail is temporarily] closing, but really excited to see what the improvements will look like,” said Brian Rademaekers, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Water Department. “It really is going to be a transformative experience for trail users, and also for the nature that lives there — the egrets, the eagles, the turtles, the frogs, the fish.”
A rendering of the improvements along the Schuylkill River Trail and the Manayunk Canal (Courtesy of the Philadelphia Water Department)