Greater Fort Washington District, Upper Dublin: Ramp Open, Trail Link Pending

On July 14, 2026, drivers coming off the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Fort Washington interchange got a new way out. A short limited-access ramp now runs straight to a signal on Commerce Drive, so traffic no longer has to work its way around through the 309 tangle. The PA Turnpike's announcement called the ramp a milestone in turning the former Fort Washington Office Park into the "Greater Fort Washington District."

People walking or biking to the same place have a different situation. The Cross County Trail through the district is built in pieces, and the piece that would connect it to the Fort Washington SEPTA station has no construction date yet. Drivers got their finished connection this summer, but the trail's connection to the train is still on a design schedule.

Businesses Paid for Most of This, Not Single-Family Homeowners

The district's road and trail work has a funding setup that most residents never see. In 2016 Upper Dublin created a Municipal Authority covering 134 properties in the old office park. The township's project page explains that the Authority pays its bond debt and operating costs with an annual assessment on every property in its service area except single-family residential. Tax-exempt and municipal properties pay it too. In the 2023 assessment, the township itself owed $11,024.75 for 520 Virginia Drive and six other properties it owns in the district.

According to the Turnpike release, almost $45 million has gone into the district's infrastructure since 2016, and close to 70% of it came from grants and partners such as the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development and Montgomery County. The ramp alone received just over $2 million from the state's Multimodal Transportation Fund back in 2016.

So the gym, the library and the trail you may use are in a district rebuilt mostly with business assessments and outside grants. That money paid for the roads first. The trail funding has come together more slowly.

What Residents Already Use There

The old office park already holds several places residents use regularly. Kurt M. Ferguson, Executive Director of the Municipal Authority, pointed to two of them in the Turnpike release: Life Time choosing its site "just beyond the ramp on Commerce Drive," and the library's move to Virginia Drive.

• Life Time, 375 Commerce Drive. The club opened to members in May 2017, nine years before the ramp. Life Time's Fort Washington page lists 114,000 square feet with indoor and outdoor pools, pickleball, basketball, studios, Kids Academy and LifeCafe.
• Upper Dublin Public Library, 520 Virginia Drive. The library moved into its current building in 2020, and the Pennsylvania Library Association named it the 2022 Library of the Year. Families with young children can use the Children's Preschool PlaySpace during its posted public hours.
• The Fort Kitchen & Bar, 325 Pennsylvania Avenue. This sit-down restaurant serves American comfort food and takes reservations.
• J Veridian at Upper Dublin, 1125 Virginia Drive. Around Ambler reported that the first of three buildings was delivered in January 2025, with 310 apartments planned in total.

The township's own description of the ramp says it supports the change to "new residential apartments, recreational facilities and other mixed uses." The apartments in particular bring people who live in the district, not just people who drive in. For them, getting around on foot matters as much as reaching the Turnpike.

The Trail, Section by Section

The trail picture is confusing because the township's own website lags behind the work. The Municipal Authority projects page still labels the Delaware and Virginia Drive section "IN CONSTRUCTION," with a schedule of Winter 2023 through 2024. But the project engineer, Boles Smyth, lists that half-mile middle section as completed on June 15, 2024. It created a 10- to 12-foot-wide trail alongside a road that went from four lanes down to three. That same project added an ADA-accessible sidewalk to the front of the library, The Reporter noted in 2023.

Here is where each section stands, based on the most recent records available as of October 2026:

The Commerce Drive section is the one directly in front of Life Time. The township describes it as a 10- to 12-foot trail built along with a full road rebuild, new drainage, and a new culvert where the Bodenstein Channel crosses. The Authority's August 2026 project list put its construction window at November 2023 through July 2025. That list records the schedule, not a confirmed opening, so we haven't found a document that says the section is finished and open.

The Missing Link Runs Along Dreshertown Road

The section that would make the trail useful for getting around, not just for loops, is the Dreshertown Road extension. Upper Dublin's project summary sheet describes a 0.7-mile extension from Susquehanna Road to Beacon Hill and Bantry. Once built, it would complete a 3.2-mile continuous route to the Fort Washington SEPTA station. The same project would widen Virginia Drive and Dreshertown Road, fill in missing sidewalk, replace a worn-out culvert, and improve sight lines at Kirks Lane.

The summary sheet had projected a late-2025 construction start. The township page now lists the project as "IN DESIGN." In May 2026, Around Ambler reported a $100,000 Montgomery County grant for the extension. The county commissioners' May 21, 2026 meeting minutes require the township to submit final engineering and design plans for approval before anything is bid or built. The minutes give no construction or opening date.

Montgomery County's Cross County Trail access page still describes access at Fort Washington State Park and the Fort Washington SEPTA station as something that will come as the trail extends east. Further out, the county's plan for the eastern section starts at Welsh Road in Upper Dublin and runs five miles to the Pennypack Trail. Design on parts of that stretch is expected to take 18 months to two years.

For now, Upper Dublin residents can walk a finished stretch between the library and Life Time. The 3.2-mile route to the train station is still on paper.

What's Pending on Virginia Drive

The district keeps attracting new plans, and the next proposals point toward more recreation. In April 2026, Around Ambler reported that Apex Padel Club was asking for zoning relief for an indoor club at 1300 Virginia Drive. The plan calls for four padel courts, four pickleball courts, a lounge and showers, with a hearing scheduled for April 27. We found no published decision since then, so the club is still a proposal.

Other changes on Virginia Drive don't touch daily life much. In October, Around Ambler reported that the 325,000-square-foot flex-industrial building at 500 Virginia Drive sold for $50.5 million. Avo Photonics and Honeywell remain tenants, and no change of use was reported. As an existing building in the district, it presumably still pays into the Municipal Authority assessment that funds the roads and trail described above.

If you want to see the district this fall without driving, the best option is the finished middle section between the library at 520 Virginia Drive and the Commerce Drive signal. The library sidewalk connects to it. Plan the rest of a longer walk around the Dreshertown Road gap until that extension goes out to bid.

If you're wondering how a Turnpike ramp, a finished trail section and a district filling with recreation might affect what your Upper Dublin home is worth, Brandon Byrne follows Fort Washington closely and can walk you through it. Start with an Instant Home Valuation, and we can talk about what the Dreshertown Road extension could mean once it's built.