Clean Air Council Joins Local Groups to Celebrate Cobbs Creek Park

Clean Air Council, in partnership with almost a dozen trail advocates and local organizations, held the Cobbs Creek Summer Celebration on Saturday, August 21st. The event included a host of community organizations that brought resources and environmental education to trail users, neighborhood residents, families, and outdoor enthusiasts alike. The event was held along the paved Cobbs Creek Trail at the top of the hill from Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center. 

There was a fun schedule of events from the morning into the afternoon, and real fruit water ice from Siddiq’s was scooped to all attendees for free courtesy of the Circuit Trails Coalition.  Residents and trail users participated in a trail walk hosted by WeWalkPHL and GirlTrek, horseback riding with the the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy, a birding and nature walk led by Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center and UC Green, archery offered by the Boy Scouts of America, and music all day courtesy of WDAS radio. 

We hope this is the first of many events where we celebrate the amazing Cobbs Creek Park and build excitement for future trail connections that will allow residents to travel farther and discover more. Take a look at the photos below to experience the fun that was had! If you are interested in getting involved in trail work surrounding Cobbs Creek please contact Will Fraser at wfraser@cleanair.org.

To find out more about events in Cobbs Creek Park, make sure to check online for updates from the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center or on their bulletin board at 700 Cobbs Creek Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA 19143 (by Catharine St and Cobbs Pkwy). Also, linked here is a list of the Environmental Center’s Fall 2021 programs: page 1, page 2.

The event follows a long-growing community effort over decades of resident advocacy, which has recently bloomed with new trail expansion, trail and park beautification, and safety improvements along Cobbs Parkway, to better connect residents and visitors with the many amenities of the Cobbs Creek Park, Trail, and Watershed:

1) The extension of the paved Cobbs Creek Trail: with the completion of “Segment A” from 70th St to Woodland Ave (see maps of segments below and interactive Circuit Trails Map here), the trail is inching its way piece by piece down to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. This paved trail is also connected with a parallel set of natural surface walking trails that take users down along the creek. 

Imagine being able to stroll or roll from the 63rd St Market-Frankford Line Station on Market St down the Philly / Delco border all the way to the Heinz Refuge! Up next are:

• The construction of “Segment D”, which will be a trail from the Heinz Refuge entrance to just north of the intersection of Lindbergh and 84th St; 
• The design of “Segment B1” to extend the newest piece of Cobbs from Woodland along Island Ave, separated from traffic to the small side street, Wheeler St. 

Look for updates on the development of both of these segments later in 2021!

2) Cobbs Creek Trail volunteer clean-ups: these clean-ups have only grown stronger and more persistent in the fight against litter along the Cobbs Pkwy and Trail. An increasing number of Cobbs Creek Ambassadors have teamed up to adopt various segments of the trail to keep tidy and beautiful. Please reach out to Rich Guffanti at richguffanti@yahoo.com  to learn more about the seven clean ups that happen monthly and weekly along Cobbs Creek Park!

3) Cobbs Creek Parkway Safety Improvements: PennDOT has undertaken a number of significant safety interventions along the Cobbs Creek Parkway, including traffic calming treatments such as speed tables, median quick curb delineators, narrower lanes, center line rumble strips, new signage, and daylighting a number of intersections. After studying the before and after behaviors of drivers, PennDOT has found that the interventions dramatically reduced speeding along Cobbs Creek Pkwy! Many more improvements are still needed and in the works by both PennDOT and the City of Philadelphia, addressing issues like the beat up guiderail along the Parkway, as well as creating safe pedestrian crossings at critical intersections along the corridor. For more information, see details from 5th Square PAC.

With so much more to come, now is the time to rediscover all the natural and community goodness that Cobbs Creek Park holds with its many biking and walking paths, wildlife, and community programming! 

For residents and groups looking to get more involved with the Cobbs Creek Partners working group, reach out to Will Fraser with the Clean Air Council at wfraser@cleanair.org.