Montour Trail-Letter

Volume 13, Issue 1

January/February, 2002

Construction of a new 1.9-mile long Montour Trail segment has been underway for a few months in Jefferson Hills. This new segment starts from behind the new Port Authority Park and Ride lot near Route 51 in Large and follows Peters Creek to Route 837 in Clairton near the wastewater treatment plant. By the time construction is suspended in December for the winter, work will be about two thirds complete and should include the following items:

1. Finish preliminary grading and install drainage culvert pipes to eliminate all muddy spots on the trail right of way.
2. Complete grading of a trailhead parking lot subsurface at Clairton.
3. Complete installation of stream bank stabilization.
4. Install as much trail subsurface as possible by using up all remaining asphalt millings previously supplied by Allegheny County.
5. Re-install gates and fence posts at the trailheads to block vehicle access to trail property.

Come springtime, our contractor, BKG, Inc., will receive more asphalt millings from Allegheny County and finish installation of the trail subsurface. The last step will be installation of an erosion resistant asphalt surface. An asphalt surface was specified for this two mile segment to withstand flooding of Peters Creek. This work is funded by a DCNR grant, with thanks to State Representative David Levdansky for helping to get the grant increased to finish the work. The Montour Trail Council expects that their contractor will complete construction in the spring of 2002.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has also built trail this fall for the Montour Trail Council. As part of their efforts constructing the new Park and Ride lot in Large, they constructed a quarter mile of trail along one side of the lot. Previously, the Turnpike constructed a 0.9-mile long Montour Trail segment alongside the new Piney Fork Extension in South Park and Jefferson Hills.

Additional Montour Trail mileage in South Park Township is currently being designed by one of the Trail Council's engineering contractors, A & A Consultants. One 1.5-mile long segment starts at Pleasant Street and will cross a 500-foot long trestle over Route 88 on its way to Peters Township. Another segment will extend existing trail about a mile eastward from Triphammer Road. Construction and maintenance of the 55-mile long Montour Trail is coordinated by the all-volunteer Montour Trail Council. Trail Council activists have a collection of skills similar to a medium sized business. There are engineers, fundraisers, manual laborers, groundskeepers, attorneys, and marketing people. New volunteers are always welcomed.