Delaware & Lehigh Trail users who travel through the Lehigh Gap should plan around a scheduled one-week trail closure starting this Friday.

The rail-trail will be closed in the Lehigh Gap Nature Center between July 10-17 as PPL upgrades transmission lines in the area.

The section of trail scheduled to be closed is 1 mile long, located directly north of the nature center’s Osprey House. The parallel section of the nature center’s LNE Trail, which overlooks the D&L, will also be affected.

PPL is replacing an existing transmission line and towers which date to 1948. The utility is installing taller, stronger, more storm-resistant monopoles, a spokesman said. They will also have flaggers in place at different points through July 25 to temporarily close the trail when work is taking place.

Officials with the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor said that while the project will be a temporary inconvenience for trail users, they understand the need for PPL to update its equipment.

“Basically, it’s not safe for trail users to be out while they are stringing electrical line through here and on the other side of the river,” said Lauren Golden, trail and stewardship manager for the corridor. “We don’t want the trail to be closed, but at the same time I want there to be a functioning electrical grid.”

During the closures, all of the nature center’s other trails will remain open, and users can still access the D&L and LNE inside the nature center, north of the Bobolink Trail.

Chad Schwartz, director of science and education at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, said there are multiple parking options available for hikers in the Bowmanstown area including the LNE Trailhead, and the nature center’s arboretum. Access to the Appalachian Trail is still available from the Osprey House parking lot, via the Prairie Warbler Trail and Woodpecker Trail.

The closures won’t affect any of the nature center’s summer programs for students, because they are all being held online due to the coronavirus.

But trail use has been heavy as people look for ways to get outside in a socially distant way.

Golden said in May and June, the D&L experienced its highest ever totals for total monthly users - about 50,000.

With that popularity expected to continue, Golden reminded users to follow the governor’s recommendations for social distancing and mask wearing, particularly if users have to wait during one of the intermittent trail closures. She recommended a neck buff, bandanna, or anything that can be pulled up when necessary.

Golden said she’s heard from a few trail users who were concerned about the closure. They usually understand when she explains that PPL updating its infrastructure is good for anyone in the area who uses electricity.

“It will be inconvenient for trail users for about a week but that means we all get to maintain electricity,” she said.