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Armstrong Trail to end at Gray's Eddy
Renatta Signorini can be reached via e-mail or at 724-543-1303, ext. 1319.
A one-mile section of trail expected to be constructed this summer will end in what Ron Steffey called a "destination point."
Steffey, the executive director of the Allegheny Valley Land Trust, said the planned expanded section of the Armstrong Trail will end at Gray's Eddy in Madison, north of the Mahoning Creek.
The new piece of the Armstrong Trail, which runs along the Allegheny River, will connect with the current ending point at the Mahoning Creek.
A public display of the new section of trail will be held Thursday evening in the county commissioners conference room in the Courthouse Annex in Kittanning. The display will be followed by an informational slideshow highlighting the Armstrong Trail and the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail Alliance.
The project is being funded by grants through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Federal Highway Administration, Steffey said.
The new section of trail will cross over the Mahoning Creek on an old railroad bridge and continue north through the woods to the eddy, he said. The current trail ends at the bridge.
The 40-foot-wide, one-mile-long section, which will be constructed of crushed limestone, is expected to be completed in July, Steffey said. He said he hopes to build an entry point from Mahoning Road to the new section.
"It does end at a destination point that people will want to go to," he said.
The land trust would have liked to continue farther north, but ran into right-of-way problems with landowners, he said.
The trust is no stranger to right-of-way issues, Steffey said, as it has been involved in litigation for more than a decade. In a handful of places along the Armstrong Trail, the path is broken because the trust does not have the right-of-way to connect the sections, he said.
That is one stumbling block in a proposed trail from Erie to Pittsburgh that would include the Armstrong Trail. The Erie to Pittsburgh Trail Alliance consists of 12 organizations that own or maintain trails in the span. The alliance met in May in Kittanning.
The end of the new section of the Armstrong Trail will be the northernmost point of completed trails in the county, Steffey said. The next closest trail -- owned by the Allegheny Valley Trails Association -- is 15 miles away. The trail runs along the river from Oil City to Parker, he said.
As for future plans, Steffey said, the trust is looking to build a trail on about 12 miles of land in the East Brady area.
At a glance
What: Public display of a new section on the Armstrong Trail
When: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: County Commissioners Conference Room in the Courthouse Annex in Kittanning
The display will be followed by an information trail slideshow and membership meeting of the Armstrong Rails to Trails Association
For more info: visit www.armstrongtrail.org or call 724-543-4478.
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