Posted on September 18, 2023
A port of the Schuylkill River Trail in Manayunk is closed through the year due to Philadelphia Water Department work.
According to the water department, the trail is closed to all pedestrians and bikers through the end of 2023 as work on the Flat Rock Dam Betterment Project continues.
The affected portion is alongside the Flat Rock Dam between Leverington Ave. in Manayunk and Shawmont Station.
Officials said the closure is accommodating work along the steep embankment.
This work requires concrete pouring that needs to occur during warmer weather, and cannot occur during the winter.
The closure will also include all trail-impacting work activities for the remainder of the project.
Closure signs will be posted on both ends of the obstructed portion; one at the Shawmont Station at Shawmont Avenue and Nixon Street, and one just below Leverington Avenue on the Manayunk Towpath.
Walkers and bikers will be able to travel further on the trail toward the worksite but will meet a dead end at the worksite and will be required to turn around.
Philadelphia Water Department
The project began in fall 2022 and aims to reconnect the Manayunk Canal with the Schuylkill River.
The historic Manayunk Canal was closed to navigation in the 1940s, and the flow of fresh moving water from the Schuylkill River has been cut off for decades.
Planning for this project began in the 1990s.
Full details on the project and closure are available online here.
