Thanks, Susanne! I agree that parks are precious, for so many reasons.

I love your long-term vision with fewer cars, and more bikes and walkers. So many people think of the future with more cars and more high-tech transportation.
We hope to be taking a holistic view of the park, revitalizing the park as a whole and bringing it back to a place of pride in the community. There is so much history and so much nature in our little park!
Regarding your hopes for a bike path to Ridley Creek State Park, in later winter there will be a public meeting about the Delaware County Greenway development, hosted by the county. When we have more details we will definitely post it.
Thanks for your ideas!

We’ve just started investigating breaching, and there are definite approaches to handling the restoration of former lakes. A lot depends on the sediment that is there, and how aggressive the owner wants to be with restoration versus letting nature take its course.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

A discussion on what a “road” might look like and how it is accessed could yield very interesting options. As we begin to transition to a more bike-centric community, the steepness of both adjacent hills would suggest to me that an open, car-free, stop sign free “roadway” would be ideal for gaining and maintaining speed for the steep climb up the next hill. This central paved area could also accommodate emergency vehicles as needed, but limiting cars to this area would provide a more eco-friendly greenway, reduce the need for signs, speed bumps and the like, maintain the residential calm along 3rd Street, and provide a safe and enjoyable “extension” of the park rather than an intrusion into it. Ample sidewalks will allow walkers, baby strollers, and runners plenty of room to commute in and out of Media with ease.

To date, there are approximately 210 U.P. households (over 500 residents!) south of N. Orange St and North of Ridley Creek Rd that could use this new entrance to Media without using a car. That means more parking spots in Media for other visitors, less pollution, and more community interactions. Town planners should consider the inevitable changes to transportation that will be forced upon us in the near future. This means more sidewalks and bike lanes, and less car-centric development.

Everyone involved in this new conservation effort has done such a great job at not only building awareness of the issue, but of promoting the very neglected gem of a park that is right here in our own backyard. The bridge development project does not need to stop at the 3rd St Damn, but could be seen as a park revitalization program that extends from this new Park Entrance down and up again to the Old Park Entrance with improved trails, creek maintenance, and, dare I suggest, a bike path all the way to Ridley Creek State Park – less than a quarter mile away!

This is my dream. Thanks for listening.

The only other option that I would choose, if I had the option to choose, would be to re-build the dam with as narrow a footprint as possible, which may dictate an approach different from the current earthen dam that is proposed, and create a greenway over the top of the dam to carry pedestrians and bicycles.

Great work to all involved – thanks