The missing link between the Nor-Bath Trail and the Delaware & Lehigh Trail, at Canal Park, is no longer missing. The one-mile section in Northampton has been completed, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held June 16 to formally open the trail to walkers, bicyclists and joggers.

The new section runs from the Atlas Sports Complex along Clear Springs Road to 10th Street and then onto Canal Park. Along the route, the extension leads to the borough hall, Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum, Municipal Park, the Northampton Area School District campus, Northampton Recreation Center and fire station on Lerchenmiller Drive. The connection features a fresh coat of black macadam, with a yellow line down the center of the path and white lines along the edges, along with a wooden split rail fence on the north side.

One of the first to utilize the trail after the ribbon-cutting ceremony and remarks by officials was Northampton Borough Councilman Anthony Pristash, riding his bicycle.

In remarks, Diana Kripas, of Lehigh Valley Greenways, said the public didn’t really wait for the formal ribbon cutting to set out on the new trail.

“No sooner was the pavement dry that people were already using it,” she said. “This morning, I saw people biking to work and other fellow cyclists.”

Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst heralded the new trail and the borough’s involvement, crediting the public works crews for actually constructing the one-mile stretch of trail.

He related, as children, he and others played in the wooded area, where dozens of railroad tracks and rail cars from Atlas Cement Company and a huge crane were placed.

“It was our Disney World,” Brobst said.

The Northampton trail project impressed Northampton County Executive John Brown.

“It’s not lost on me. I’ve been a mayor of a small borough,” Brown said, realizing the “impact that a trail like this can have on the borough in trying to increase economic development and draw people into the downtown area.”

Others present were representatives of “green” projects in the region and elected and appointed state, county and borough officials.

A $200,000 contribution from Northampton County Open Space program and $160,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation were set aside for the trail extension, which includes more than just the one-mile section in the borough.

Next on the agenda is the construction of a pedestrian bridge across Dry Run Creek - a trail connection between Northampton and North Catasauqua - a project that could get underway later this year.

Becky Bradley, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission executive director, said, “Trust me, for every gap we close, we develop another one to fill its place.”