Category Archive: Landscapes
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Children’s Museum Has Plans to Beautify Unsightly Underpasses
By Bill Zlatos
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 12, 2010
Underpass Artwork: The Norfolk & Southern Railroad underpass at Federal Street on the North Side has been proposed to be a public space gallery featuring murals and other artwork. Philip G. Pavely | Tribune-Review
Visitors from Downtown to the North Side must now pass through a dark maze of cold, concrete underpasses. But the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will soon inject it with a bit of brightness.
The museum is working with Norfolk & Southern Railroad and other groups to convert the railroad’s underpass on Federal Street near the post office into an outdoor art gallery. Work will start this fall and be finished in about a year.
“The underpasses have long been a blighted barrier between the neighborhoods of the North Side and the amenities of the North Shore,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference.
The conference is working with the Urban Redevelopment Authority on another project to improve underpasses on Anderson and Sandusky streets. That involves new sidewalks, curbs and crosswalks.
The gallery project involves cleaning and painting the Federal Street underpass, and installing lights and a metal mesh where works of art can be hung. The new color of the bridge and its columns has not been determined.
“These railroad bridges and underpasses kind of contribute to that sense of inaccessibility and remoteness,” said Christopher Seifert, deputy director of the Children’s Museum. “The idea is to celebrate that entry, celebrate the bridges. We’ll use art to enhance the neighborhood spirit.”
The underpass gallery is part of the Charm Bracelet Project, which has encouraged two dozen North Side groups to work together. Among the Charm’s activities is free kayaking lessons on Lake Elizabeth with Venture Outdoors.
The cost of the gallery is estimated at $300,000. The main contributors are The Heinz Endowments, NRG Energy Co., the Grable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“We imagine an individual artist with a regional or national reputation could do a one-person show,” Seifert said. “We could have a curated show from a half dozen artists or art from kids.”
Representatives from North Side groups will curate and coordinate the gallery project.
Fatla said some North Side residents hope that the underpass projects will draw visitors to their neighborhoods.
“I don’t think it will bring tons of customers to the near-North Shore neighborhoods,” he said. Rather, he continued, “If you buy a house here, you have a lovely pleasant walk to the ballpark, the riverfront trail or Downtown. It improves the value of living here.”
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Old-Fashioned Amusement Parks Once Beckoned, Have Nearly Vanished
By Bobby Cherry and Kristina Serafini
SEWICKLEY HERALD
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A model of Pittsburgh's Luna Park is one of the attractions at the train exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, North Side. Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity. Tribune-Review Archives
For more than 100 years, American amusement parks have entertained and thrilled those looking for summertime excitement. But as cultures shifted and competition increased, the thrills, fun and family gatherings at many parks stopped, leaving only memories behind.
From the late 19th century through the mid 1950s, there were almost two dozen such parks in the Pittsburgh area. Few have survived.
Families who went to Kennywood Park packed picnic lunches, which sat undisturbed on tables as folks enjoyed the rides. Rare was the family who bought food at the park. These Ford City picnickers clean up after lunch during the fifth annual Ford City Community Picnic at Kennywood Park. About 6,000 residents of the Ford City area enjoyed a day of fun at the amusement park in June of 1956. Tribune-Review Archives
Luna Park
Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity.
More than 67,000 lights illuminated the park’s attractions situated near Craig Street and what now is Baum Boulevard.
“At the time, most people had one, maybe two lights in their house if they were lucky,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Owned by Frederick Ingersoll, an inventor who owned 38 similar parks across the country, Luna Park offered concerts, foreign landmark replicas and rides.
In 1995, Kennywood Park paid homage to Luna by re-creating the Shoot-the-Chutes ride and water fountain features in its Lost Kennywood addition.
Attractions such as Infant Incubator dazzled visitors.
A 1906 brochure for the park advertised, “Little mites of humanity, whose lives were despaired of, were taken to the incubator, where, under the care of learned physicians, and the gentle ministrations of trained nurses, the park patrons saw them grow strong and sturdy again.”
Ingersoll filed for bankruptcy in March 1908. The park closed in August 1909, nearly two years after a lion escaped, killing a visitor.
Inside Storybook Forest at Idlewild Park, Eleanor Clark, of Ligonier Township, portrays the part of the Old Woman who Lives in the Shoe. Getting a hug on their visit are Paige Ohler and her little sister Aerica of Mt. Pleasant. Idlewild Park, which opened in 1878, has to be the oldest continuing amusement park in the Pittsburgh area, if not the country. Tribune-Review Archives
White Swan Park
White Swan Park had everything from roller coasters to skee ball — but not white swans.
“Dad always wanted to put white swans on the lakes in the park,” said Bill Kleeman, son of White Swan Park owners Edward and Margaret Kleeman. The park also was owned by Margaret Kleeman’s brother, Roy Todd.
Like the rest of the park, the lakes are gone. Rides and attractions were torn down nearly 20 years ago as the park was forced to close in 1990 after state Department of Transportation officials relocated the Parkway West to the new Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay.
The summer of 1989 would be the last for the park, which entertained locals for 34 years.
“Every time I drive past it, I look up and realize I’m driving over White Swan Park,” said Steve Mcateer, who worked most of the rides before becoming a maintenance man for the park in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“It was a grand old thing. It was like one big family.”
Known for its Galaxy, Mad Mouse and large slide, White Swan Park entertained celebrities heading to and from the airport and children from around the West Hills.
“There was a constant flow of picnics, too,” said Mcateer of North Fayette. “There was always something going on at the park.”
West View Park, opened in 1906, was noted for its community picnics and Danceland, where the Rolling Stones appeared in 1964. Roller coasters were made out of wood and Kiddieland was a big draw for the little ones in the family. Tribune-Review Archives
West View Park
The factors that made West View Park prosper contributed to its demise.
During the beginning of its 71-year run, the park, located on Perrysville Avenue in West View, was a hot spot for community picnics. More than 100 picnics were held there the first season the park opened, according to Heinz History Center archives.
Founded by Theodore M. Harton, West View Park boasted many popular rides — most of which were built by the T.M. Harton Co. — including the Dips, the first coaster built in Pennsylvania with drops of more than 50 feet.
The park was passed down through the Harton family, and though the 1920s started off slow, by the end of the decade, the park had undergone a renovation to add a new roller coaster, the Racing Whippet, to the landscape, as well as several other new rides and renovations to existing ones.
Dancing became a popular pastime in the 1920s, and West View Park’s ballroom provided much of the financial stability during the Great Depression. During the evenings, a capacity-sized crowd often crammed into the dancing pavilion for music from local and national bands, including the Rolling Stones, who played at the center in 1964.
Perhaps the park’s most successful period arrived when George M. Harton III took control in 1945. The next year, three new rides — a miniature railroad, flying skooter and Ferris Wheel — were added. In 1947, the ballroom was renovated to include new lighting and air conditioning and reopened as Danceland in 1948.
Though dancing started losing its popularity in the 1950s, many of the couples who used to dance there were starting to bring their children to the park’s Kiddieland.
But the good times wouldn’t last forever.
In September 1965, the Pittsburgh Railways Company discontinued trolley service to the park. Then, in 1966, George Harton III died, the park was passed on to his 80-year-old mother, and it fell by the wayside.
“The family grew increasingly detached from the park,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Without improvements to the park, people began turning to Kennywood Park to host picnics.
West View Park was dealt a major blow on Oct. 3, 1973, when a fire destroyed Danceland. The park closed before the 1978 season.
Alameda Park in Butler County was once an amusement park that opened in 1901. The building at far right in this drawing housed the carousel and is the only original building remaining. Tribune-Review Archives
At one time, train service to amusement parks in the area was common as entire communities or schools spent the day at the park after arriving there by rail. A special train carried more than 1,700 Ford City picnickers to Kennywood Park for an annual community picnic day in 1958. People waited at the railroad station at the corner of Third Avenue and Ford Street at the present site of the town's clock tower to board the train. Tribune-Review Archives
The Steel Phantom coaster at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin makes its way through a corkscrew on Monday, Sept. 4, 2000, the last day of its existence. As time passes, visitors expect more and more -- and bigger, faster and more thrill filled coasters. Parks throughout the country compete to offer riders the latest in coaster technology. AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar
More parks
Many amusement parks opened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Pittsburgh region:
1878 — Idlewild Park, Somerset
1897 — Calhoun Park, Lincoln Place
1898 — Kennywood Park, West Mifflin
1901 — Maple Grove Park, Pittsburgh
1901 — Eldora Park, Eldora
1901 — Alameda Park, Butler
1901– Homestead Park, Homestead
1902 — Oakwood Amusement Park, Crafton
1903 — Southern Park, Carrick
1903 — Oakford Park, Jeannette
1904 — Interurban Park, Pittsburgh
1905 — Luna Park, Oakland
1906 — West View Park, West View
1906 — Dreamland, Pittsburgh
1906 — Coney Island, Neville Island
1906 — Dream City, Wilkinsburg
1924 — Rainbow Gardens, White Oak
1927 — Burkes Glen Park, Monroeville
1927 — Harmarville Park, Blawnox
1928 — Mapleview Park, Canonsburg
1955 — White Swan Park, Findlay
Source: Tribune-Review News Service research
An era that has passedThe turn of the last century “was the time when trolley companies were expanding and opening parks at the ending of the line to generate traffic on evenings and weekends,” said Jim Futrell, author of “Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania” and historian for the National Amusement Park Historical Association in Lombard, Ill.
“They were a much different animal than what parks are today,” he said. “They offered picnics, dances and maybe a roller coaster. It was a much different type of environment than what you see today.”
The number of parks in the region — about two dozen opened between 1878 and 1955 — was uncommon for its size, Futrell said.
“It was a testament to the topography and the industrialized nature of the region that so many parks existed,” Futrell said.
In 1906 alone, four parks opened: West View Park, now a plaza that houses Giant Eagle; Dreamland in Pittsburgh; Coney Island in Neville Island; and Dream City in Wilkinsburg.
White Swan Park — opened in 1955. Situated on the Moon-Findlay border, it was designed as a roadside stop along the Parkway West to the then-Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
“At the time, people would travel from miles and miles away to drive on the parkway,” said Bill Kleeman of Sewickley, whose parents, Edward and Margaret Kleeman, and uncle, Roy Todd, owned White Swan.
When trolley companies merged into larger entities, many owned multiple amusement parks, such as the Pittsburgh Railways Company that at one time owned Calhoun Park in Lincoln Place, Oakwood in Crafton, Southern Park in Carrick and Kennywood Park in West Mifflin.
The trolley company sold the parks to the Henninger family, who eventually sold or closed three of the four parks. Kennywood opened in 1898 and is among one of the few old-fashioned amusement parks to remain open.
Few records exist from many of the parks in the region, including Coney Island, a short-lived park that opened on Neville Island on June 27, 1907. The park featured a 50-foot boardwalk, shoot-the-chutes ride and a 1,000-foot beach.
The Great Depression threatened the local amusement park industry, leaving a handful of parks, including Kennywood, Idlewild Park and West View, Futrell said.
As time passed, visitors expected more and more, he said.
“The industry was maturing, and people wanted more thrill rides,” Futrell said. “Smaller parks didn’t have space or funds for thrill rides.”
Today, the family-owned amusement park is an anachronism. The region’s last — Kennywood and its sister parks Idlewild Park and Sandcastle Waterpark — were sold in 2007 by longtime owners the Henninger and McSwigan families to Spain-based Parques Reunidos.
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YMCA Posts Big Plans for the Hill
By Adam Brandolph
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 9, 2010A day after community officials announced they had struck a deal to bring a grocery store to the Hill District, residents on Thursday were pleased to hear that the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh plans to break ground on a nearby facility this fall.
“I think it’s a very good thing for the community,” said Franklin A. Reed, 75, a longtime Hill District resident. “This is something we very much need.”
The $11 million project includes both the renovation of the YMCA’s facility on Centre Avenue and construction of the Thelma Lovett Family YMCA, a 43,000-square-foot facility that will offer recreation, family support services, youth programs and activities for senior citizens. The new center, named after the lifelong Hill District activist, will include an indoor track, a gymnasium, aquatics center with a four-lane pool, a wellness center, multipurpose and senior space, a teen room and a computer lab.
“The new facility will provide the Hill District neighborhoods with a vital, family-centered hub for social, physical and developmental activity, as well as continue the revitalization of the Centre Avenue corridor,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said in a written statement. “With a new arena, library, and soon to be YMCA and grocery store, we are rebuilding the Hill District and providing jobs and opportunities to its residents.”
The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday approved selling 18 lots to the nonprofit for $237,500.
Richard J. Perallo, vice president of facilities and construction for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, said construction of the center should take about 15 months. Fundraising for the project has been ongoing, with about $13 million raised, said Bill Jones, the YMCA’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.
“Organizations like the YMCA provide critical care and physical health resources to families, children and residents of the Hill District,” City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, whose district includes the Hill, said in a written statement. “These public private partnerships help form the solid foundation of support to our community. When we all work together, we are all better for it.”
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Pittsburgh Taking Steps to Fix Crumbling Stairways
By Margaret Harding
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tiffany Eberhardt recently fell through the broken city steps at the top of Oltman Street in Chartiers City, injuring her wrist and knee. James Knox | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Tiffany Eberhardt’s trip to visit her grandmother recently took on a new meaning.
Eberhardt, 33, of Jefferson Hills broke her wrist and tore knee ligaments after falling through city-owned suspended concrete stairs in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers City neighborhood in April.
“I love the fact that they’re here,” Eberhardt said about the steps. “They just need to be fixed.”
The city’s 311 response line has logged more than 600 complaints about the city’s 555 stairways since the hot line’s inception in 2006, officials said.
About 96 percent of complaints are marked “completed,” but that doesn’t mean stairs were repaired, said Wendy Urbanic, hot line coordinator. Steps are fixed when “time and funds permit,” she said.
Crews inspect steps when a complaint arises, Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski said, but “we won’t maintain the steps unless we get a request.”
The stairway off Oltman Street that Eberhardt fell through is missing steps and plagued by a loose railing and wobbly steps, Eberhardt said.
“As long as you know the steps that aren’t there, you think you’d be OK,” said Eberhardt, who undergoes weekly physical therapy since falling.
Public Works closed the stairway.
Since 2005, the city has received 17 steps-related claims, Solicitor Dan Regan said. Of those, the city paid on one — $240 to someone whose eyeglasses broke during a fall down steps that were being repaired, Regan said. Three lawsuits are pending against the city for stair-related issues, Regan said. The lawsuits were filed after claims were denied, he said.
Eberhardt said she didn’t file a claim, but plans to sue for compensation for her injuries.
Kaczorowski blamed part of the problem on crew size — he has no more than four people devoted to step repairs. In past years, he said, maintenance workers in each of Public Works’ six divisions repaired steps.
“We’re in the process of training people in the maintenance division to go back to the old way,” Kaczorowski said.
Public Works averages about 50 repairs a year, said Robert Vavro, construction supervisor.
The cost of minor step repair comes from Public Works’ budget, but the city allocates $100,000 for major repairs or new stairways, Kaczorowski said. That money goes toward wall and fence maintenance.
Despite the hot line complaints, Bob Regan, a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said most steps are in acceptable shape.
“I would say 90 percent of them are in quite good condition,” said Regan, who counted about 742 sets of steps, including “jumper walks” — stairways with platforms — and authored “The Steps of Pittsburgh: Portrait of a City” in 2004.
Still, Bob Amend, 43, who lives next to the Oltman Street steps, would like the stairway removed. Eberhardt is the second person he helped after a spill.
“They’re cracking all the way down,” Amend said. “You get one or two people using them. They’re looking around, and the next thing you know they’re in the hole.”
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Fight On to Keep Brick Street in Regent Square
By Alyssa Karas
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Signs posted along Macon Avenue in Regent Square detail the residents' fight to keep their brick roads from being paved over by the water company. Andrew Russell | Tribune-Review
The clusters of bright orange cones on Macon Avenue in Regent Square alert motorists and pedestrians of giant holes in the yellow-brick road.
But the cones are warning signs of a battle brewing between Swissvale residents and a water company.
When Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority replaces the water line in the 1400 block of Macon Avenue, the company intends to remove the bricks then pave the street with asphalt. But many residents are adamant that the brick street be restored, and plan to protest the water authority’s decision at the council meeting at 7 p.m. today.
“It will be a fight (with water authority officials) if it has to be,” said Swissvale Borough Council President David Petrarca. “(Residents) want brick. They do not want asphalt. It’s always that way.”
Much of the debate centers on cost. Petrarca said water authority officials put an estimated $270,000 price tag on the project. This includes removing the brick, replacing the main water line and all lateral lines to homes, putting down a new base then paving with asphalt.
The water authority did not provide an estimate for replacing the bricks on the nearly 100-year-old streets, Petrarca said. Brick would be more expensive in the short-run but require less maintenance over time, borough officials said. Water authority Manager Anthony Russo Jr. declined to comment.
The water authority may run into some legal roadblocks. According to Swissvale Solicitor Bob McTiernan, the borough has an ordinance that states materials used to replace a street surface must be of the same covering and the same grade as the originals.
Residents and council members said the bricks keep property values up, make the streets safer and add to the neighborhood’s charm.
“I love this neighborhood,” said resident Ann Walston, 62. “One of the most beautiful things about it is the streets and the trees.”
The issue began after a water main break on June 22 caused sinkholes to cave in. When at least one sinkhole was patched with asphalt, residents took notice, Webber said. Residents began organizing meetings and writing letters to council members and the mayor.
Other communities are facing similar problems. In Aspinwall, Borough Manager Ed Warchol has grappled with what to do about a worn-out brick road for more than a year.
“The problem is the expense,” Warchol said. “It’s astronomical. It keeps the quaintness of everything, but I don’t have the money.” However, it’s important to keep in mind what the community wants, he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said the Regent Square streets could qualify for landmark status. A structure must be at least 50 years old and designed with distinction, Ziegler said.
“I just hope they find a way to keep these bricks that contribute to the uniqueness of this marvelous neighborhood,” he said.
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Allegheny County Communities Examine Benefits of Recycling More
By Daveen Rae Kurutz
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Talkin trash. Ross officials are kicking off a recycling campaign to encourage residents to be more recycle friendly. Residents on Jefferson Street in the North Hills Estates are taking part in the recycling efforts. Samantha Cuddy | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Communities across Allegheny County are lightening their loads.
Instead of throwing away such items as newspapers and plastic bottles, more residents are recycling them.
Mt. Lebanon is recycling at nearly double the rate of just two years ago.
“There are so many environmental benefits. It makes sense to recycle,” said Larry Holley, manager of the Division of Waste Minimization and Planning with the state Department of Environmental Protection. In Pennsylvania, the “green” benefits extend beyond the environment.
DEP reimburses municipalities for what they recycle — disbursing nearly $35 million last year, Holley said.
Mt. Lebanon officials sold their constituents on recycling by making it easier for them to do. Last year, the township began allowing residents to toss all recyclables in one bin. Tom Kelley, director of public works, said Waste Management has collected 1,056 tons of recyclables so far this year – an 88 percent increase from the same time in 2008.
“It’s an easy program, and people like that,” Kelley said. “When you make things easy for people, they’re going to participate.”
Last month, Ross agreed to a one-year contract extension with Waste Management.
Mike Christ, municipal coordinator for the company, told township officials that they could double the amount of materials recycled if they increased awareness of what can be recycled.
“People don’t realize how much can be recycled,” Christ said. “They still think newspapers can’t be thrown in there.”
A heavy load
Pennsylvanians recycle about 5.2 million tons of garbage each year, according to the DEP.
The 5.2 million tons of recyclables saved 55,500 acres of standing forest and reduced greenhouse-gas emissions equal to removing 1.4 million vehicles from the roads, Holley said. He estimates that nearly 80 percent of all Pennsylvanians have access to some sort of recycling program.
Ross Commissioner Pete Ferraro said he believes recycling could help the township with its budget problems.
In December, Ross officials passed a 2010 budget that includes $1.3 million worth of cuts. Ferraro said he wants to at least double the township’s recycling reimbursement from the state – which totaled more than $22,000 last year.
“If we can raise $25,000 above and beyond our normal revenues, that’s a police car for us,” Ferraro said. “It’s worthwhile for our residents to recycle.”
In Robinson, the township began offering residents the opportunity to put all their recyclables in one bin this year. Township Manager Aaron Bibro said he receives several calls each month about recycling and believes that residents are catching on.
“The township just wants to do its part in creating a green community,” he said.
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South Park Middle School Outdoor Classroom to Serve Double Duty
Thursday, July 08, 2010Howard Anderson said his smelly, sometimes boisterous lesson plans don’t do anything for his popularity in the teachers lounge at South Park Middle School.
“We’re dissecting fish and the room stinks or we’re making bottle rockets,” the fifth-grade science teacher said last week as he and a small crew of laborers worked to assemble the wooden structure for an outdoor classroom that he hopes will double as a memorial garden..
Mr. Anderson said he began mulling the concept in May 2009, three months after his friend and fellow science teacher, Marilyn Walsh, died from pancreatic cancer. He said he wanted to honor Mrs. Walsh by creating a lasting memorial combining two of her favorite things: teaching and tiger lilies.
His vision turned into a pet project after he helped secure a $5,000 grant from Lowe’s and a contribution from Consol Energy to fund the facility, which will be located behind the middle school.
But Mr. Anderson said that while he was thankful for the funding, a few thousand dollars doesn’t go far when it comes to building a 20-by-20-foot structure with an asphalt floor and gabled roof.
In fact, he said the project may have faltered without Stephen Bornyas, owner-operator of Bornyas Residential Construction of Boston, who offered to complete the structure for what Mr. Anderson said was a significantly reduced rate.
Mr. Anderson said he reached out to Mr. Bornyas after Internet research led him to a story about the company building a similar outdoor classroom at Elizabeth Forward School District.
Mr. Bornya said he expected the project to take two days for his crew to complete. Gabe Gehenio of Gabriels Excavation also worked at a reduced rate to help.
Once the structure is finished, phase two — installation of a garden hugging the perimeter of the outdoor classroom — will begin.
Mr. Anderson said that he hopes the outdoor classroom will help other teachers add flexibility to their lesson plans and that the space will be used for instruction, as well as a quiet place for members of the community to eat lunch or quietly reflect.
But he was clear: The outdoor classroom is an evolving science project in its own right.
“I don’t want it to end,” he said. “I want it to get bigger and better and improve every year.”
And he said anytime his dedication wavered, he thought of what Mrs. Walsh would have done.
“She inspired me because she came to school sick and she came tired,” Mr. Anderson said, adding that even when the teacher was in the hospital she called to see how her students had fared on their standardized tests.
Mr. Anderson said the memory of Mrs. Walsh has also inspired him to create a horticultural club at the middle school, which will help interested youngsters learn more about the art of cultivating flowers while also ensuring the garden is maintained.
He added that he will be looking for funding to add an alternative energy source. Mr. Anderson said one day he would like to incorporate solar panels or a wind turbine, which would complement both the facility itself, as well as its capacity for educational enrichment.
But until then, he said he looks forward to fall, when he’ll be able to test drive the new classroom.
Anything that smells pretty awful or that concentrates on fire tends to work better outdoors, anyway, Mr. Anderson said.
Middle school principal Kevin Monaghan lauded the project and Mr. Anderson for his creativity at a time when students standardized test scores are often the focus.
“It makes lessons more relative to the students,” Mr. Monaghan said. “Something like this makes all the difference.”
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County Bridges All Gaps But One in Pittsburgh-to-D.C. Trail: Onorato Wants it Completed by 2011
Thursday, July 08, 2010By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The 62-ton bridge across railroad tracks is lifted into place in Whitaker on Wednesday. Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
Construction cranes on Wednesday eliminated two of the biggest obstacles to completing a 335-mile biking and hiking trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., a project that has been in the works for 35 years.Crews hoisted prefabricated bridges over active freight rail lines in Whitaker and Duquesne along the Monongahela River. Construction of a 21/2-mile trail segment linking the bridges to the existing trail will begin by fall, with completion expected by January, said Jack Paulik, project manager for Regional Trail Corp.
“This is a major milestone,” Mr. Paulik said.
All that will remain incomplete on the Great Allegheny Passage after that is a one-mile stretch through Sandcastle Waterpark. Negotiations with the park owners have not produced an agreement that will allow the trail to go through.
“There’s no solution just yet,” Allegheny County spokesman Kevin Evanto said. “We’re kind of at the same place we were a couple months ago.”
County Executive Dan Onorato has established a goal of completing the trail by “11-11-11” — Nov. 11, 2011. Mr. Evanto said the goal is reachable.
A 170-foot-long, 62-ton bridge erected in Whitaker crosses six sets of tracks operated by Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Railroad Co. A 110-foot-long, 37-ton bridge in the RIDC industrial park in Duquesne crosses three sets of Norfolk Southern tracks.
The 62-ton bridge across railroad tracks is lifted into place in Whitaker on Wednesday. Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
The bridges will provide “a spectacular view of the river, the working river,” Mr. Paulik said.
Pushing the trail through the former industrial sites and over the rail lines ranks near the top of the development feats on the trail project, he said, along with renovation of the 3,291-foot Big Savage Tunnel in Somerset County that was completed in 2006.
The two bridges erected on Wednesday are about 2 miles apart and will be connected with a trail along U.S. Steel’s former coke gas pipeline, which the company donated in 2007. The segment will hug the hillside between Route 837 and the river, connecting to McKeesport to the south and The Waterfront complex to the north.
A $500,000 state grant helped to fund the bridges, with private money paying the rest of the $950,000 cost, Mr. Paulik said. Developing the piers and substructure cost $2.5 million, nearly all of which was private donations, he said.
The bridges will enable trail users to avoid Route 837, which is dangerous for bicycling.
Development of the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage, which connects at Cumberland, Md., with the C&O Towpath to Washington, began in 1975 with the abandonment of 87 miles of railroad line from Cumberland to Connellsville.
Nine years later, the first 9.5 miles of trail opened in Ohiopyle State Park.