Penfield Channing H. Philbrick Park Walkway

A popular suburban spot for outdoor recreation with hikers and families, Channing H. Philbrick Park in Penfield offers scenic trails through steep wooded acreage along Irondequoit Creek. The footpaths, approximately 300 linear feet, had been bolstered by wood and aluminum sections of walkways, but by 2024, the Town deemed the trails a safety hazard to pedestrians based on the deterioration of those walkways, and the overall lack of a safe guardrail system.

The Town requested engineering services from MRB Group to design a continuous elevated walkway system to reach nearly a half mile into the trail. This ambitious extension of the built walkway would significantly improve trail accessibility and safety, but certainly pose site accessibility and construction obstacles for the Contractor. The park’s terrain would require design and construction teams to work around the existing creek water line, limits of the base flood elevation, wetland boundary, and existing grading to lay out the walkway to limit disturbance and meet all regulatory requirements.

With these challenges in mind, MRB Group worked with Penfield to plan a 511-foot-long continuous elevated walkway system composed of aluminum framing and railing, composite wood decking, and supported by a system of embedded steel helical piles.

Big Idea

An aesthetically pleasing addition to the park’s grounds that will satisfy the Town’s need to provide safe access to the highly trafficked trail