What is the Project? Briefly, what are you planning to do, and how will it benefit the trail system?

This project will be the first trail construction from Impact Corry’s newly approved 10-year Community Strategic Plan. The Plan has identified trails and connecting green spaces as one of the five main targets for the region. Ultimately, the goal is to connect the Erie to Pittsburgh trail to residential areas through feeder trails and close the current gap on the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail through Corry. Efforts will then target connecting to the East Branch Trail and Spartansburg, PA.

Impact Corry is working with regional trail experts to build the first 800’ of the Greenway Junction Trail extension using volunteers. This extension will provide a trail to Corry’s asset Mead Park, a 48-acre wooded park with amenities and trails in the city.

Under experienced leadership, volunteers will remove the current overburden from the former rail bed, clean, and trim the trail to 30 ft wide and trim tree branches up to 12 ft. Local excavating services have volunteered to donate equipment hours to remove the overburden, grade the trail, and truck the materials. Volunteers will contour the surface for proper drainage. Additionally, volunteers will plant native plants to mark the trail and create a natural barrier from adjoining properties.

At the trailhead, volunteers will plant a wildflower/ pollinator garden.

This will benefit the trail system as it expands the Corry Junction Greenway Trail (CJGT) into the residential area. The CJGT has seen an 87% increase in trail usage during COVID (July ‘20 – January ‘21). Community input gathered by both Blue Zones Corry and Impact Corry found that 67% of respondents would walk more if the conditions were better. 70% of respondents that currently walk cited health/wellness as ‘very important’; 67% also ranked ‘Get outside/into nature’ as ‘very important. This trail provides a safe path through nature with mature trees. COVID changed our lives, but Blue Zones’ questions made residents think about what was important. The need for trails was identified.

This trail construction is the first implementation project of the Blue Zones Corry Active Transportation Plan and Impact Corry’s 10-Year Community Strategic Plan which are both supported by Blue Zones and the City. Further, the new trail will close another section of the existing gap on the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail and furthers Erie County Greenways and Trails priorities.

What Are You Asking the Fund to Provide? Be specific about what you're asking the Fund to support and how that fits into the overall project. Give an approximate budget for the project that shows what you’re asking the fund to provide and any other funds you’re planning on.

Impact Corry is requesting a $5,000 cash grant from the Trail Volunteer Fund. This money will be combined with a $1,000 Trail Build Expert hire and professional volunteer contributions. Further, Impact Corry has applied for a Peer-to-Peer grant to contract additional time with the Trail Expert and has applied for $4,000 from a local foundation. Monies received from the Volunteer Fund will be used to purchase limestone for the trail treadway.

A large portion of this project is volunteer efforts. Many residents have expressed need and excitement for additional trails. This build will allow the training of the volunteers under experienced supervision. It is expected that the excitement generated will promote the establishment and growth of an Active Transportation corridor that has been underutilized for years. Further, it will allow us to document the reservoir of volunteers available for larger grants such as DCNR. Larger projects include both development of and land acquisition for additional trail connections.

What Will Volu

What will the volunteers do:

What Are You Asking the Fund to Provide:

Grant funded April 2021