HONESDALE, PA — The Wayne Pike Trails and Waterways Alliance (WPTWA) has received a $40,000 matching grant from the state of Pennsylvania. The grant, announced by Gov. Tom Wolf’s office, will help fund a feasibility study for a massive 15-mile project to build recreation trails from the Greater Honesdale area to Hawley.

 The grant application was made to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources by the Wayne County Commissioners on behalf of the Wayne County Community Foundation, a nonprofit that agreed to oversee the WPTWA’s funds.  The award will match monies raised by the WPTWA, a consortium of groups dedicated to creating a connected trail system involving the area’s rivers, parks and railroad tracks.

“This feasibility study will help us identify our next steps,” said Dan Corrigan of the WPTWA. “It will look at property lines, easements, municipal concerns, construction costs and more. Our job now is to find the right company to do the study.”

Corrigan added that work has already begun in some places, such as around Gibbons Park, Irving Cliff and Apple Grove Park in Honesdale Borough and Bingham Park in Hawley.