The Anthracite Bicycle Coalition plans more development to make Scranton more “cycling-friendly.”
SCRANTON, Pa. — BMX is Vito Mecca’s sport.
The 13-year-old from Scranton has been riding since he was six.
And for the first time in years, his mom doesn’t have to drive him to Newton Township to practice.
“The area that we’re living in, there’s not really any cool BMX stuff. No one really supports that stuff. The main sports are baseball, basketball. You’ll see that stuff, but never stuff for bikes,” said Mecca.
That is the very reason why the city of Scranton, DCNR, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and a team of businesses installed a track at Connell Park in south Scranton.
The effort was headed up by the Anthracite Bicycle Coalition.
“There is an international growth in cycling right now. Northeastern Pennsylvania is not as cycling friendly as we would like it to be,” said Gene McDonough who volunteers with the coalition.
The Anthracite Bicycle Coalition says the BMX track is just the start at Connell Park. The coalition is in talks with the city of Scranton to turn the former South Scranton Steelers concession stand into a bike shop co-op.
“The cooperative is a place that you can come and you can work on your bike and we’ll sell you new and used parts at very low prices. We’re looking to promote cycling,” said McDonough.
So far it seems that mission is working.
10-year-old Annabella Stone of Scranton is one of the sport’s newest recruits.
“Me and my grandpa, we used to come here all the time and it was terribly trashed everywhere. There was broken glass, tires and stuff. So, it’s pretty cool to see it all clean now and with the track,” said Stone.
Vito Mecca loves that he’s no longer alone in his love of the sport.
“Almost every day I’m here there’s a kid here, or a couple kids. I come here pretty much every day after school and there’s always a couple kids here,” said Mecca.
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