Montour Trail-Letter

by Peter Kohnke

Building the Montour Trail Council's "main line" from Coraopolis to Clairton takes up most of our attention. But we also want to spread out to the sides, to connect up nearby communities. A lot of activity has happened, and will happen on these connections. Let me go down the list: (Note that some of the below are just ideas at this time; permission from landowners have not been obtained or even requested.)

First, the branches/connectors which were used by a railroad:

• The Bethel Branch - mostly complete
• The Muse Branch (Cecil Township) - not started yet
• The Westland Branch (Cecil, Mount Pleasant, and Chartiers Townships)- not started yet
• The extension from milepost 0 to downtown Coraopolis itself - we are investigating access to the real estate at this time.
• The Panhandle Trail, which extends west from Collier Township and will cross the Montour Trail at McDonald is developing its own organization and will offer more scenic mileage for Montour Trail users.

Then the non-railroad connections:

• The Greater Pittsburgh Airport connector - early planning stages
• The Southpointe Connector - early planning stages
• Churchill Road access (Bethel Park) - have easement to cross the land
• The South Park Connector (to connect the joggers along Corrigan Drive to the Montour Trail) - not started yet
• And, of course, the biggest 'connector' of all is the Steel Valley Trail at Clairton, which in turn connects with other our sister trails of the Great Allegheny Passage.

Ideas that have been floated but have not had much serious thought given to them include:

• Rails-with-trail along the Pittsburgh Industrial Railroad, which follows Chartiers Creek from Canonsburg to Upper St. Clair
• Extending the Bethel Branch beyond Logan Road up to Millennium Park, following the former Montour Railroad right of way when possible.

Perhaps you can let your mind wander to other possible connectors. I don't see how we can have too many. Share your ideas with others. Then take action on one of the above ideas or your own. If you don't know how or where to get started, contact me. The progress along the Bethel Branch occurred as quickly as it did because the people living near it wanted it to happen.