The state is putting $4.67 million into Swatara State Park.
"This project has been a long time coming," Park Manager Angel Croll, 41, said Monday.
Work started in December and should be completed by July. Enhancements to the park in Schuylkill County include a parking lot, conversion of a road into a multi-use trail for hiking and biking and work done on about 1 mile of the rail trail in the county that compose the 10 miles of the trail in the park. Drainage improvements and other work is part of the effort along the trail, Croll said. The Mill Creek Bridge issue will also be addressed.
"We're going to rebuild (it) so people will be able to use the rail trail without going out on (Route) 443, so that will be a big safety issue more than anything else," she said.
In all, four parking areas are planned for the park - there currently are no specified parking areas - a pedestrian bridge making two connecting loops for the park, a new trail and a bridge at Mill Creek and boards with information about the park at each of the four parking areas. Three of the four parking lot areas will accommodate about 50 cars each. Space for about eight to 10 cars will exist at another parking area, Croll said. A boat launch will be built on the Lebanon County side of the park also.
"The new bridge that's going to be built in the middle (The Sand Siding Bridge) ... it will actually create one loop that is 7.1 miles and the other loop will be just under five," Croll said. These loops will be for the eastern and western sides in the park.
Kinsley Construction, a York County-based company, is doing the work. Funding for the project originally was set aside in 1980, she said.
More than $40 million was allocated for the project in 1980 and $17.6 million has been spent on various improvements thus far before the current $4.67 million upgrades. The rest of the money has been returned to the state because it was not spent in the time allotted for the projects it would cover. Environmental concerns - some of which involved problems with acid mine water - had held up some of the work.
The earlier improvements included land acquisition, relocation of roads and utilities, efforts to address acid mine mitigation and work on a dam, which didn't come to fruition because of environmental issues. Bathrooms and other amenities were planned but were eliminated because of funding issues, she said. The bathrooms are on plans for a future project. As funding becomes available again they might be possible, she said.
The park was designated a state park in 1971. Final acquisition of the land occurred in 1987. Of the more than 3,500 acres in the park, about 1,000 of them lie within the boundaries of Schuylkill County; the rest are in Lebanon County. A staff of six keeps watch over the park, which also shares personnel with Memorial Lake State Park, Lebanon County.
Hiking, biking, boating, fishing and other activities are done at the park. A 10-mile mountain biking trail is popular with visitors - some who come from other states to ride their wheels over the terrain, Croll said.
"We get a big draw for that," she said.
Croll said about 84,000 people visited the park last year.