The "The Government Folly Known As The 'Goat Path'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Traveling through the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania heading east on Route 23.  Route 23 was one of the very first pioneer paths in the early 1800s that connected the eastern states heading west, passing through what eventually would become the city of Lancaster.  As I exited the city limits I drove past the city waterworks where I used to fish and swim under the railroad bridge that crosses Rt. 23.  

After leaving Lancaster on Rt. 23E I came to this barricade
past the Lancaster Water Works.  You need to turn left and
exit onto Route 30E and then back onto Rt.23 once again.
Straight ahead of the barricade is the "Goat Path".

About  a quarter-mile past the bridge I came to the end of the road and had to exit left to continue on Rt. 23.  It was at the end of that four-lane road that back in 1963 was supposed to be a new Rt. 23 that would be a new highway from Lancaster to New Holland, PA.  In '63 the Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation began work on perhaps the most controversial project ever in Lancaster County history.  The first feasibility study of $50,000 started at that time.  Three years later it was announced that a two-lane, 21.8 mile highway with five interchanges on a four-lane right-of-way would cost $15.4 million.  It was to run parallel to the current Rt. 23, but about a mile south of the current Rt. 23.  It would be built in three parts with a section from Lancaster to Route 30, another section from Route 30 to the town of Leola and a third section from Leola to New Holland.  Work would begin in 1968.  Carol and I lived near what would be the Lancaster end and were hoping to be able to travel the distance to New Holland in considerably less time that it did in 1968.  But, two years later the state ran out of money and the project never really got started.  Three years later Democratic Governor Milton Shapp budgeted $26.46 million to begin the first two parts of the project and in 1974 work began on the new Rt. 23.  The road near the waterworks was to be the starting point and construction finally began.  I remember the road being very controversial since it required county farms in the Garden Spot of America, many of them Amish and Plain Sect farms, to be divided in half.  Well, by 1977 the funds had been exhausted after only 4.9 miles of construction.  So what to do with a 4.9 mile long roadbed and interchange bridges through some of the best farmland in the country.  

This photograph which I took yesterday shows the 4-lane
wide "Goat Path" that goes on for almost 5 miles.  Many
places along the path you will see cows and goats grazing.

How about covering it with eight inches of dirt and throwing grass seed on the dirt.  Yep, that's what they did.  Told the farmers whose property it divided that they could allow their cows, sheep and goats to graze on it until further notice.  Not long before it was known as the "Goat Path".  That was almost 50 years ago.  Yes, you read that right...50 YEARS AGO!  That was my money they used to build a "Goat path".  Another recent study found it could cost in excess of $100 million to begin the project once again so it has been decided that the "Goat Path" will now become a part of the Greater Lancaster Heritage Pathway from the west side of Lancaster to Rt. 722 on the east side of Lancaster County near the town of Leola where the "Goat Path" ended.  The proposed 11-mile pathway will be a non motorized trail.  But, the pathway will have to go through five municipalities and who will maintain it?  It does sound rather interesting since it will create many bike and walking trails, but I'm almost positive it will never happen in my lifetime.  Maybe they'll prove my wrong, but this is government run.  Nah, it'll never happen, since I'm running out of time!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.