"Construction will start in the spring of 2026 to be completed next year," Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds said in July 2025, at an event lehighvalleylive.com covered to mark full funding for the last stretch of the South Bethlehem Greenway. "So at that point people will be able to travel the whole distance."
Spring 2026 has come and gone. The Greenway still ends at Auburn Street, about 0.9 mile short of the Saucon Rail Trail. But the gap is in a very different state than it was two years ago. The city owns the corridor, and grants for the work were announced. What's left is the design work. Once that's done, the connector joins a 2027 calendar that also has trail work at the Greenway's other end and on Hellertown's side of the gap.
The Hard Part Was Buying the Railroad
The gap is a strip of old Norfolk Southern rail line, and in 2024 the City of Bethlehem bought what it needed to close it. The city's 2027–2031 capital improvement narrative puts the land cost at $4.8 million, paid with federal, state and county grants. The same document lists the gap among the top 10 trail gaps in the Lehigh Valley.
Next to that purchase, building the trail is the cheaper job. The city estimates design and construction at about $1 million, and says the connection will link Bethlehem's South Side downtown "to Quakertown and beyond." The final grants announced in July 2025 came to $1.3 million: $500,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, $500,000 from the federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, and $300,000 from Northampton County's Livable Landscapes program.
The route was set when the land deal was announced. Lehigh Valley Public Media reported in October 2024 that the new section would run along the eastern edge of Bethlehem's Saucon Park and meet the existing trail just west of Bachman Street in Hellertown. Bachman Street is also the northern end of the Saucon Rail Trail, which runs more than seven miles south to East Station Avenue in Coopersburg.
How the Date Moved
- July 2025: The mayor said construction would start in spring 2026 and finish the next year.
- The city's 2026 budget: The project detail expected design and construction to be finished in 2026.
- August 28, 2026: The revised capital narrative moved completion to "Spring 2027."
- October 6, 2026: At City Council's Committee of the Whole, staff said "90% designs for this trail will be completed this month," with final design by the end of the year and "construction beginning in 2027."
As of this month, the connector is finishing design. The next public dates come from the budget process. According to the October 6 meeting record, the proposed 2027 non-utility capital budget gets its first reading at the November 17 council meeting and its final reading on December 15. Of the five-year program, only the first year, 2027, is actually voted on.
The Saucon side has had a similar wait. Upper Saucon Township advertised bids for the Preston Lane Pedestrian Bridge with a November 2021 deadline, but the contracts weren't awarded until December 2023. Construction started the following August, and the ribbon was cut on January 18, 2025, according to Lehigh Valley Public Media. The bridge sits between Upper Saucon Community Park and DeSales University and ended a detour across Preston Lane. Walkers can now go from Hellertown to Quakertown without a break. Its contracts included $694,315 to Flyway Excavating for site work and installation and $155,000 to Yates Electrical Services, plus up to $520,000 for fabricating and delivering the bridge.
The 2.5 Miles Already in Use
North of Auburn Street, the Greenway is a working trail. It runs nearly 2.5 miles from South New Street through the South Side. It's part of the Appalachian Mountain Club's 13-county Pennsylvania Highlands Trail and of The Link Trail Network, with connections to the city's Monocacy Way trail and the 144 open miles of the D&L Trail. The Saucon connector itself is only about 0.9 mile, but it will tie the Saucon Rail Trail into a network that already reaches across eastern Pennsylvania.
Some places worth knowing along the way:
- Harmony Pavilion, between Webster and Taylor streets. This is where the free Live on the Greenway concert series takes place. The city's 2026 use permit scheduled it for four Sundays, May 24 through June 14, and listed The Colony Meadery and Five Maidens Cider Co. as subpermittees. When WFMZ reported the series' 2025 return, it described local musicians, food trucks and beverage vendors.
- Café the Lodge, 427 E. Fourth Street. The café's own site says it opened in March 2012 and can be reached through a gate off the Greenway.
- Parking. For its outdoor exhibition "Here and Now," which ran from September 2, 2025 to August 1, 2026, Lehigh University Art Galleries suggested starting at South New Street or Trone Street and parking at the South New Street garage or the Skate Plaza lot.
The city is also working on the existing trail itself. Its capital narrative says 2026 work included finishing a South Bethlehem Greenway Activation Plan with Blue Zones.
2027 Puts Work at Both Ends
The Saucon connector won't be the only Greenway project under construction next year. At the trail's western end, the city plans to extend the Greenway through an undeveloped block between South New Street and West Third Street. The site sits between the New Street parking garage and 306 S. New Street. Public input shaped the concept, which includes benches, an outdoor theater, walking paths and gathering space. The city says final design starts in 2026 and construction in 2027. Funding comes from grants, contributions from neighboring property owners, and city money. At the October 6 meeting, staff said a consultant had recently been selected and that the city hopes to start construction in 2027.
Hellertown has its own work planned near the trail. In September 2025, the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study announced $600,000 in federal Carbon Reduction Program funding for a new traffic signal and crosswalks at Main Street and Polk Valley Road. The project also fills sidewalk gaps that limit access to Tumminello Park and the Saucon Rail Trail. Borough Engineer Bryan Smith said construction could potentially begin in 2027, Lehigh Valley Public Media reported. The intersection is next to Shoppes at Hellertown and Hellertown Diner. The borough has also drawn up plans to connect the trail directly to that commercial area through Tumminello Park. The designs show signs, sidewalks, a pedestrian-activated crosswalk across Main Street and a footbridge over the mill race. In 2025, the borough requested a $230,030 state Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program grant for the work.
| Project | Location | Stage, fall 2026 | Construction target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saucon Rail Trail connection | Auburn Street to just west of Bachman Street | 90% design in October, final design by year-end | 2027, with completion forecast for spring 2027 |
| Greenway extension | South New Street to West Third Street | Consultant selected, final design starting | 2027 |
| Main Street and Polk Valley Road upgrades | Southern Hellertown | Further design | Potentially 2027 |
For now, the Bethlehem end of the Saucon Rail Trail is still Bachman Street in Hellertown, the same borough as Lost Tavern Brewing's taproom at 782 Main Street. The Greenway is due to reach that end of the trail in the same 2027 construction year as the other projects above.
At The Rebecca Francis Team, we follow projects like the Saucon connector because, once the trail is finished, a short walk to the Greenway in Bethlehem or to the trail in Hellertown will mean easy access to a much larger network. If trail access matters for your next move, or for how you present a home you're getting ready to sell, request a private consultation and we'll go through the 2027 timeline with you.
