By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

Upper Macungie Township had its second public meeting in a series of four on the trail connectivity and walkability study on May 31.

The presentation, given by Anita Nardone, Geoff Creary and Bryce Brucker from Simone Collins Landscape Architecture, explained the overall timeline of data gathering, analysis, draft and final plan creation.

Discussions emphasized looking at the analysis and proposed connections in progress.

Attendees were encouraged to respond.

“The third public meeting will concern a draft plan. And the fourth public meeting will be the final,” Nardone said.

She explained, as the plan comes together, places where we are going to apply improvements, engineers will look at and make sure it fits together technically.

“They will look at how things fit and the cost.

“When the project ends, there will be a list of possible improvements and a cost to it.

“This will help the township prioritize what makes sense going forward over the next five to 10 years.”

During the presentation, Creary said the highways crossing the township serve as barriers for walking and biking.

Interstate 78, Route 222, the Northeast extension of the Turnpike, and Routes 100 and 309 make it difficult to cross in any direction.

Another slide showed there are 34,749 total employed in Upper Macungie, 32,959 employees travel into Upper Macungie, and 9,262 residents are employed outside Upper Macungie.

The public is encouraged to attend. Meeting No. 3 will be on Sept. 13 and meeting No. 4 will be Nov. 15. Both begin 7 p.m. at the township building