Three quarters of a million dollars in state funds have been allocated to complete the missing segment of the Great Allegheny Passage.
State Sen. Jay Costa Jr., D-Forest Hills, announced Thursday that $750,000 in state redevelopment assistance grant monies have been awarded to provide the final push for completion of a continuous bike/hiking trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
The missing segment of the 150-mile long trail is about a one-mile gap of the Steel Valley Trail portion of the passage in West Homestead and Pittsburgh area.
Allegheny County officials estimate that segment to be finished in November 2011. Officials signed easement agreements with Sandcastle Waterpark and CSX Corp. in October.
“We’ve worked hard to revitalize the area that was hit so hard by the departure of the Homestead Works,” Costa said Thursday in a press release.
“These efforts are paying off, and completion of this trail is a huge win for the folks who work and play here. Not only is this a valuable resource for those who will be able to spend quality time outdoors, but the economic impact this trail has on the area can’t be understated. It attracts over 700,000 visitors every year, who spend millions of dollars and help to fuel the area’s turnaround.”
It is estimated that there is more than $40 million in indirect spending in trail towns annually, and 88 businesses have been created because of GAP.
“The completion of the Great Allegheny Passage is a transformational moment for our region, both economically and recreationally,” Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said. “This trail has been improving the economy and quality of life in towns throughout the Laurel Highlands and Southwestern Pennsylvania, and now its benefits will spread north through the Mon Valley and into the city of Pittsburgh.”
The segment to be completed in the West Homestead area will go under a railroad bridge and the Glenwood Bridge to link with a portion of the trail that currently is being formed, then connect to the South Side trail.
The trail system has been 35 years in the making, and funding has come from individual trail users, local governments, private foundations and corporations, and state and federal grants.
This has been a banner year for the Steel Valley Trail, a nine-mile segment of the GAP. Two major projects were completed in July. Bridges were installed over Norfolk Southern railroads, one in Duquesne and one in Whitaker.
The one in Duquesne is in an area trail organizers call Port Perry. It is across the Monongahela River from Port Perry in North Versailles Township. The one in Whitaker stretches across the tracks between Kennywood Park and the Rankin Bridge.
Other trail events this year included a ribbon-cutting for the opening of a portion of the trail in late April near the intersection of Water Street and Ninth Avenue in McKeesport.
“I want to thank the commonwealth, especially Gov. Ed. Rendell and Sen. Jay Costa, for their continued support of this project,” Onorato said. “With the help of our generous foundation community and enthusiastic trail users, we have come a long way toward the completion of this incredible trail. But we wouldn’t be on the home stretch without the state’s support.”
Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, also lauded the governor, senator and county executive for their support and for facilitating the funding.
“There will be a significant jump in traffic once the last link to Pittsburgh is complete,” Boxx said. “The trail is truly having an economic impact in the communities through which it passes, and we look forward to revitalization in the Mon Valley communities. Pittsburgh will truly become a biking Mecca.”
By Michael DiVittorio, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Friday, December 31, 2010
