A second cycling event to raise funds for a footbridge in Jim Thorpe will take place Sunday.

The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor expects around 200 bikers will depart from one of two locations and "Bike for the Bridge."Planned for construction in 2016, the 250-foot bridge would connect 40 miles of completed D&L trail. It will also connect downtown Jim Thorpe to the Lehigh Canal Towpath and Weissport.The single-span bridge is estimated to cost $3.1 million."Funds raised during Sunday's ride will go mainly toward engineering and consulting costs," said Elissa M. Garofalo, president and executive director of the D&L National Heritage Corridor."We're currently working toward construction," she said. "We had a meeting Wednesday with PennDOT about rights of way. There is a lot of planning that goes in before construction. It typically results in cost overruns. We're continuing to raise awareness of project so we can keep it on track."Participants on Sunday will have the option to ride from the Black Diamond trailhead to Jim Thorpe (36 miles), a 10 a.m. start, or from Rockport to Jim Thorpe (15 miles), a 12:30 p.m. start. They will be shuttled from downtown Jim Thorpe to their starting destination by Pocono Biking.The event is $35 for riders with a bike and $49 for those in need of a bike rental.Participants may register for this event by calling Pocono Biking at 800-944-8392.A ride in the fall raised $5,000 and officials are hoping for a similar result this time around."We had around 140 riders last time," Garofalo said. "I think people really want to come out and support the effort. The weather looks like it will be beautiful as well. It's a nice event and we're really looking forward to it."Pocono Biking in Jim Thorpe will be the destination for riders from both starting points.There will be a build-your-own taco party and a raffle after the ride.In mid-November 2014, Carbon County was awarded $2.1 million to install the prefabricated pedestrian bridge, which will link the Black Diamond trailhead to Cementon."When you get a really long trail, you get people who ride it as a destination, but it's also an opportunity for commuters," Garofalo said. "It's a way for people who want to come into Jim Thorpe for an event to leave their car somewhere else. Having a trail also improves the health of our residents, and people do use it. Look at the trailhead in Lehighton to see how busy it is. Who would have thought that? A year ago it wasn't there."Garofalo expects the project to go out to bid by March 2016 and be constructed later that year.That timeline means it will clash with construction of the Route 903 bridge in Jim Thorpe, but officials remain confident both can be done at the same time."The footbridge is a single span and nothing like the 903 bridge," she explained. "They build abutments on each side of the river and put it in place and that's it. PennDOT and the county are very cognizant of two projects going on at once. They'll be staged in such a way to limit the amount of disruption."