Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 12, Issue 6

November/December, 2001

Sixty-six volunteers from Bombardier Transportation of West Mifflin spent their workday as volunteers on the Montour Trail on Friday, September 21, helping to prepare for future trail construction in South Park Township.

Bombardier employees removed trash, trees, branches, and other debris from future trail right-of-way paralleling Piney Fork Road, east of Triphammer Road. The volunteer mobilization was part of the United Way's annual Day of Caring.

Paul McKeown, the Montour Trail Council board member supervising the volunteer activity, said this group was the largest number of persons to perform trailblazing work on the Montour Trail in a single day. "The work these Bombardier employees performed ordinarily would take several Saturday work parties to complete," he said.

McKeown also acknowledged the assistance of three other businesses: Paliotta Contracting and Duncan Excavating, which permitted the Bombardier workers to park on their nearby properties, and the Trolley Stop Inn, which provided discounted lunches. In addition, South Park Township has agreed to remove the material gathered by the volunteers.

The Montour Trail is one of suburban Pittsburgh's most popular recreational resources, with 30 miles of hiking and biking trail already in use, including two segments in South Park Township. The Montour Trail's main line, when completed, will extend 47 miles from Coraopolis to Clairton as part of the Great Allegheny Passage network of trails connecting Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.