Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 11, Issue 4

July/August, 2000

Construction work was started on the trail segment paralleling Peters Creek between Route 837 in Clairton and Route 51 in Large. In March and April, volunteers completed the last of the tree cutting required for this trail segment. Tree cutting on the last 500 feet of trail in Clairton required more man-hours and woman-hours than the rest of the 1.9 mile segment worked on. These efforts were at the location of the future trailhead parking lot at the Clairton end of the trail. Volunteers also removed 30 feet of concrete curbing from Route 837 where the parking lot entrance will be located. This curb removal involved a lot of sledge hammering.

Following this tree cutting, the City of Clairton performed a preliminary grading of the parking lot area using a bulldozer loaned from the Dick Corporation. By completing this grading, the Trail Council has a place to temporarily store asphalt millings that Allegheny County has offered o donate to us for use as a trail subsurface material. Jefferson Hills Borough has been working from the other end of the trail segment. At this point, they have performed preliminary grading of 2/3 of a mile, and gathered a pile of rotted railroad ties that they have dug up and removed during the grading process.

These municipalities are to be commended for this donation of public works department time and the use of their equipment. They were able to do this in the early spring during a less busy time period. It is likely that they will be helping us again in the late fall when their work slows down again for a short time. These in kind services are very important on this project, since the funding for this section is from a 50/50 DCNR matching grant.

Lastly, the Trail Council is happy to note, that some progress has been made on obtaining property access to a location where we currently have a 3/4 mile missing link. As many of you are aware, an interchange and park and ride lot for the Mon Fayette Expressway are being built where our trail crosses Route 51 in Large. Through the combined efforts of Jefferson Hills Borough, the Pennsylvania Turnpike CommissionPennDOT, State Senator Murphy's office, and the Montour Trail Council, it is now a possibility that the Montour Trail will have a dedicated trail right-of-way through this highly developed area. Details will be forthcoming in future newsletters.