Prior to the running of the 2002 Burgh 10K just over a year ago, the Cecil Friends of the Montour Trail resurfaced the Trail from Glass Hill Road to the National Tunnel. The McConnell Access area was used as a staging point for storing the crushed limestone as it was trucked in. From the pile, volunteer Frank Ludwin could load his truck with the surfacing material that could then be trucked to the waiting Cecil Friends Volunteer Crew who were manning the spreader. To make this task simpler, parts of the fence along the walkway from the Library Trestle and Allegheny County locust posts were removed.

Upon completion of the surfacing, a few posts were temporarily inserted in the gap to prevent unauthorized entry, but the intention was to return later that summer and build a split rail fence. Unfortunately, it never did get done and it has been a rather unsightly sight for the past year.

Last fall, the Cecil Friends got together on a cool Saturday morning prior to the arrival of Atlas Railroad Construction to salvage the split rail fences at the bridges that were to be reconstructed on the Cecil Section. This salvaged material recently was put to good use by rebuilding the fence at the McConnell Access point. Thanks to Frank Ludwin for providing the heavy equipment to drill the holes and insert the posts and, also, to Dennis Sims, Hoyt Hall and Brian McConnell for providing the labor.

- Dennis Sims