A $10M bond, four funding priorities.
In 2018, based on recommendations from the County's Green Space Task Force, County Council authorized a $10 million bond allocation for open space — creating the Green Ways Grants to municipalities. The program funds four types of work, each judged against the County's Open Space, Recreation, and Greenway Plan.
Conserve
Acquiring and permanently protecting open space and natural features before they're lost to development.
—Enhance
Upgrading existing parks and recreation sites — playgrounds, courts, trails, stormwater and ADA access.
—Connect
Linking communities, cultural and historic resources, and natural features with new and extended trails.
—Plan & Design
Feasibility studies, master plans, and engineering that set up smaller municipalities for future success.
—59 projects have been completed - with many more on the way.
The funding from this program continues to pay off long after County allocations end. Residents see both quality-of-life enhancements and measurable economic returns, countywide.
Prioritizing municipalities with a history of disinvestment.
Beginning in Round 2, the program added the DVRPC's Indicators of Potential Disadvantage as a scoring category — and Rounds 3 and 4 made equity an explicit funding priority.
Invested by the Green Ways Grant Program into municipalities with a history of disinvestment — one of the largest quality-of-life investment commitments of its kind in Delaware County history.Source: Green Ways Grant Program storybook, 2026
Of Round 3's $4.99M in grant funds were devoted to historically disadvantaged communities — part of an explicitly equity-centered approach to public space investment.Source: Round 3 award summary, delcopa.gov
Round 4 devoted just over half of its funds to 12 historically disadvantaged communities, advancing 14 separate projects — the program's most disinvestment-focused round to date.Source: Round 4 award summary, delcopa.gov
118 projects, plotted from the County's own GIS records.
Every point below is a real Green Ways project location, projected from the County's parcel-level GIS data, shown on the same Esri basemap style used by the County's own Green Ways GIS Dashboard. Filter by round, toggle categories, and click any point for project detail.
Round
Category
Nearly every municipality in Delco has been reached.
Across all four rounds, 47 of the county's 49 municipalities have received a Green Ways Grant — for acquisition, trail construction, park upgrades, or planning support.
Every municipality reached, 2019–2023
The story so far of Delco's green ways.
Every round has drawn requests for roughly twice the funding available. Guidelines evolved each cycle — removing municipal match requirements, welcoming non-profit partners, and sharpening the focus on disinvested communities.
Funding by grant category, 2019–2023.
Enhance and Connect grants — improving existing parks and building new trail connections — make up the largest share of awards across all four rounds.
Explore every awarded project.
All 118 projects from the County's GIS project tracker. Click a row to see the full description, location, and payment status. Figures reflect County records current as of this dataset's last update.
| Round ↕ | Category ↕ | Municipality ↕ | Project ↕ | Status ↕ | Awarded ↕ |
|---|
What Green Ways funding builds.
A sample of finished projects delivered with Green Ways Grant support.
Barry Bridge Park Improvement Project
Structural repairs to the pier, a new floating dock, painting, and improved park amenities along the Delaware River.
Darby Creek Trail Extension
Two pre-engineered clear-span pedestrian bridges crossing Darby Creek, opening the full 0.73-mile trail segment from Bloomfield Avenue to Creek Road.
Edgmont Township Community Park
ADA access to the swings, an accessible ramp, ADA-compliant bay mulch, a new shade canopy, and added benches and seating.