Federal funds are boosting plans to transform the banks of the Codorus Creek in York.
The York County Economic Alliance has landed a $15 million infrastructure grant to help pay for the transformation plan, known as the Codorus Greenway project.
“It’s certainly a big chunk, and it definitely helps propel the project,” said Kevin Schreiber, CEO of the YCEA.
The federal dollars bring total funding for the Codorus Greenway to about $41 million, Schreiber said. The project has an overall price tag of about $75 million.
What’s the project: To make the Codorus Creek more accessible by transforming its banks into a parklike setting.
The project covers about a 1.4-mile stretch of the Codorus from York College and Grantley Street in the south to the WellSpan Park baseball stadium and George Street in the north.
The county rail trail runs along the east side of the creek. The greenway project would add a trail on the western side.
The project also would improve stormwater infrastructure along the Codorus.
“This is a transformational project for the city of York that Pennsylvanians will be able to enjoy for generations to come,” U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said in a statement announcing the grant award yesterday.
What’s the source: The money is from a grant program enacted as part of the federal infrastructure act.
The program, called Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, makes about $1.5 billion available nationwide per year.
YCEA had applied twice before for RAISE funding but been denied, Schreiber said, chalking it up to high demand.
Most of the other funding for the Greenway has come from the state, including $15 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
Some local funding has come from the Codorus Watershed Endowment, Powder Mill Foundation and York County Community Foundation, according to project documents.
What’s next: YCEA officials will confer with engineers to determine how the new funding will impact the first phase of the project’s work, which could begin by next year, Schreiber said.
Planners had envisioned working on a stretch from York College to about King Street, which is a block south of Market Street, Schreiber said.
The new funding could allow work to continue northward.
The YCEA has submitted required federal permits and hopes to put the project out for bid by early next year, Schreiber said.
The YCEA also will continue raising money for the remainder of the cost, he added.
Earlier this year, the YCEA partnered with the city on a $550,000 project to remove a broken dam on the Codorus near the Philadelphia Street bridge.
Are there other grantees: Yes.
The RAISE program is directing $25 million toward a new bus transfer center and maintenance/operations facility in Harrisburg for regional public transit provider rabbittransit.
The buildings will replace and expand the organization’s existing operations on Cameron Street, which are housed in a 120-year-old facility.
“This funding is a significant step forward in enhancing our transit infrastructure and improving mobility for residents throughout the Capitol region,” rabbittransit executive director Richard Farr said in a statement.
In 2022, rabbittransit bought the Cameron Street premises of its former neighbor, Goodwill Keystone Area, with a goal of expanding into it.
York-based rabbittransit merged in 2020 with the former Capital Area Transit and formed the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority.