Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 12, Issue 2

March/April, 2001

Your new president says hello! I'm Peter Kohnke, and as of January 1, 2001, I have taken over the reins of presidency from Dennis Pfeiffer, who did an excellent job. By way of introducing myself, let me give you a bit of my personal early trail history. In the spring of 1989, I got a mailing from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC). I had never really thought about a rail-trail before, but it took about 10 seconds for me to realize that I liked the concept, so I signed up. In the fall of the same year, I got a mailing to RTC members about the idea of a trail on the right-of-way of the former Montour Railroad. I went to the meeting, hosted by Stan Sattinger and Dino Angelici. It seemed interesting, especially since we used to be able to see the Montour Railroad trains from our front steps. A few weeks later, Stan called me up and asked if I wanted to be secretary of the Board. I said yes, participated in the MTC formation meeting in the Mount Lebanon Library, and have been hooked ever since.

Most of my trail activities have been in and around Bethel Park, which is where I live. But now I am involved in the full length, from Clairton to Coraopolis, and all three spurs. This gives me a good segue to say that we have just invented a fourth spur--- or will it be the main line? That is, we are working on organizing a connector to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport Terminal in Findlay Township, discussed on page 7 of this newsletter. If you are interested in getting in on the ground floor on this one, please contact the chairperson for this effort, Tim Killmeyer, at 412-787-1472.

The year 2001 promises to be full, trailwise. A grand opening of the trail from Boggs to Quicksilver is tentatively set for April 28. (We?ll keep you posted.) This will give us a continuous trail for 17.5 miles, from Coraopolis to McDonald. We also expect to finish the section of trail between Cecil Park and the 980/50 intersection. If our requested grants come through, we plan to also build the 0.7-mile trail in Peters Township between the Bethel Park line and Brush Run Road this year. Less visible, but at least as important, is the behind-the-scenes work being done:

• We are in the middle of the engineering contract with Mackin Engineering to design the incomplete sections of the trail in Washington County. That includes the McDonald and Chartiers Creek Trestles, raising two bridges in Cecil Township, and designing the needed bridges in Peters Township.
• There is a separate contract for the replacement of the bridge at Routes 980 and 50 in Cecil Township with GAI Consulting.
• We are also in the middle of the engineering contract with SE Technologies working together with A&A Consulting to design the incomplete sections of the trail in South Park Township. This includes the Library Trestle and the Triphammer Road area.
• We are working on a more ad hoc basis on planning/building the trail in Jefferson Township and Clairton.
• There is an ad hoc committee meeting regularly to restore a bridge across Clifton Road in Bethel Park.

The above engineering work won't get translated into physical reality for a year or two. But, except for the Muse and Westland Branches, virtually every incomplete section of the Montour Trail is getting some attention at this time.

We are also looking at how we are managing our volunteers. We have the classic problem of some people who are overworked and other people who have volunteered but have not been asked to do anything. Coordinating all this without a paid staff is a challenge, and we are trying to improve in this area. If you would like to help, but don't know how, I recommend that you simply come to one of our Friends and/or Board (especially the Board) meetings. The times and locations described on page 3. There you will get a feel as to what is happening and who you will want to talk to for more details in your area of interest. If you are in an area without an active Friends group, attend one in a neighboring area to get some ideas as to how you might want to set one up in your area. If you are one of the overworked ones or want to volunteer, but don't quite know what else to do, please call our trail information number 412 831-2030.