I participated in an interesting meeting at the Bridgeville Public Library recently, focused on connecting the different communities in the South Hills through trails. The event, called, “Growing Together Through Trails,” was hosted by Justin Beinhauer, an Upper St. Clair resident with a commitment to connecting the communities of Upper St. Clair, South Fayette, and others to Bridgeville, which he calls the “heart of the community.”
The meeting was surprisingly well attended, with representatives of the Montour Trail, the Rachel Carson Trail, South Fayette Township, the Allegheny Trust, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Planning Commission there, as well as a number of interested unaffiliated local residents.
Mr. Beinhauer opened the meeting by recounting the enjoyment he had on trails as a child, and his belief that his initiative would promote a healthy lifestyle for South Hills residents. He then presented a series of slides documenting the success of a number of organizations dedicated to the development and maintenance of recreational trails in Western Pennsylvania. Included were the Montour Trail Council, the Allegheny Trail Alliance (the Great Allegheny Passage), the Rachel Carson Trail Conservancy, Bike Pittsburgh, the Ohio River Trail Council, and the Hollow Oak Trust.
It was apparent that the host was indeed “preaching to the choir”, as all of the meeting’s participants were in full agreement about the benefits of developing a formal trail along the Chartiers Valley and particularly between Carnegie and the Montour Trail at Hills Station. They were aware that planning for the section between Boyce-Mayview Park and the Montour Trail is in its preliminary stages; one of our Senior Design Project teams in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Pitt made a major contribution to these plans last semester.
The emphasis of the attendees in this meeting appeared to be on cycling; that certainly is the most glamorous purpose for recreational trails. My personal interest is more related to walking and to enjoying nature. This conflict was highlighted in the previously mentioned Senior Design project. The biker faction wanted a straight, high speed link to the Montour Trail, while the less athletic folks preferred one that followed Chartiers Creek closely and emphasized access to nature.
Mr. Beinhauer acknowledged that his idea was not a new one, showing a map from a 2010 study entitled “ActiveAllegheny” which clearly indicates a trail closely following Chartiers Creek. The study suggests accessing the ActiveAllegheny website for further information; a website that no longer exists.
Similarly, a newspaper article in 2003 reports the result of a $54,000 study commissioned by the Chartiers Nature Conservancy which outlined a proposed route for the trail, which would begin at Canonsburg Lake in Washington County and end in McKees Rocks, where Chartiers Creek empties into the Ohio River. This organization, too, has ceased to exist.
Despite the failure of these earlier efforts to develop such a trail, it is possible that the “time is ripe” to revive them. In the intervening years there have been numerous successful ventures of this type, as enumerated by the host. It certainly is our opinion that it warrants an effort.
Assuming the Boyce-Mayview to the Montour Trail portion does go ahead, the next obvious link is from it through the Wingfield Pines Conservancy site to Chartiers Park and Bridgeville. The Conservancy site and Chartiers Park are already connected by an informal path.
Equally intriguing, especially to South Fayette Township, is the prospect of linking two future developments – Hastings and Newbury – with a water level hiking/biking trail along Chartiers Creek, most of which would pass through Upper St. Clair Township and Bridgeville. This situation highlights the necessity of involving all the local municipalities in the planning of such a trail.
We were impressed with Mr. Beinhauer’s vision of Bridgeville as the “heart of the community with veins or arteries reaching out into different neighborhoods and communities.” I have felt for a long time that a trail from Bridgeville through Panhandle to Bower Hill Road and then up Painter’s Run to Cedar Boulevard would be a natural. The same could be said for one up McLaughlin Run at least as far as Clifton.
Remembering hikes from my boyhood days, how about a trail up Coal Pit Run all the way to Hickory Heights Golf Club? Or one up Cow Hollow and through the Indian Tunnel? Or a new “swinging bridge” and a trail to Mayview Cave? It is certainly easy to get me enthusiastic about this concept.
The host closed the meeting with the obvious question – What can we do to make the dream of a Chartiers Trail a reality? Is the revival of a non-profit organization necessary? What about a regional organization made up of the Parks and Recreation Departments of all the affected municipalities? Should the Chartiers Trail be another of the branches of the Montour Trail?
The latter appears to be the most probable solution. It is easy to imagine an Upper St. Clair Friends of the Trail sponsoring and maintaining the section from the main Montour Trail to Boyce-Mayview park, complemented by Bridgeville Friends, Collier Friends, Scott Friends, etc. at least as far as Carnegie.
We were greatly impressed with the host’s enthusiasm and with the general supportive attitude of the participants in the meeting. Let’s hope this produces a real asset for this area and not just another map by another defunct organization.