Officials from the state Departments of Transportation (PennDOT), Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Environmental Protection (DEP), and General Services (DGS) highlighted a pilot project to pave part of a Ridley Creek State Park roadway with an asphalt and recycled plastic mixture. 

The project, coordinated through PennDOT’s Strategic Recycling Program  (which is funded through DEP) includes two quarter-mile roadway stretches surfaced with an asphalt/recycled-plastic mix. The material is intended to strengthen the roadway surface without leaching plastic material into the surrounding environment. 

The pilot is incorporated into a 1.5-mile reconstruction project within the park from the entrance to Pavilion 14. The rest of the roadway is being paved with a standard asphalt mixture to provide a comparison for the new material over the five-year evaluation period. Click here for more.