BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Theres a railroad track along there, the train that uses it only pulls a couple of cars once a day or so ... I wonder if somebody could just clear away a path at the edge of the ballast or something ?

The trail group developed a Greenway along the corridor, but last I heard they had dropped the plan to construct a walking/biking trail through the area. I'll try to dig up the most recent website for more information.

Did anyone find out more definitive news of the Chartiers Creek Trail? Are they still planning to construct this trail or just a big pipedream, that was thought of,several years ago??

At this time, I'd suggest that the concept of a hiking/biking trail at that location is dead. A Greenway and Trail Feasibility Study was completed a couple of years ago. Civil Engineering Consultants was the prime consultant of the project, which was funded by DCNR (as best I can tell.)

Details on the report (and maybe the report itself) can be tracked through links at www.chartiersgreenway.net.

Bottom line, a greenway has been developed to preserve a "natural green corridor." Promotion of the creek as a "blueway" or water trail is on-going and growing.

As for hiking and biking, the website says three sort of contradictory things:

1. There is property along the lower watershed that could be assembled to create a trail. Four or five owners were named, including the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Duquesne Light. The others mentioned were meaningless to me.

2. The greatest potential for a contiguous trail system throughout the Chartiers Creek valley is the existing Pittsburgh and Ohio Central (P&OC) railroad corridor. This rail line is operated as a short line freight system by the Ohio Central Railroad System. Under this ownership, it is not likely that any portion of the P&OC will be used for the Chartiers Trail.

The P & OC did make a generous conservation easement offer to the Chartiers Nature Conservancy, facilitated by officials from the City of Pittsburgh, based on talks with previous conservancy board members. However the railroad could not come to terms with the current conservancy board, unfortunately resulting in loss of these important miles of great trail.

(Note: The Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad has since been purchased by the Genessee and Wyoming Railroad, who it not noted for being supportive of "rail with trail" proposals. Nor is the G&W likely to abandon a railroad that they purchased less than 12 months ago.)

3. The Chartiers Creek Greenway and trail system will connect over 180,000 urban and 70,000 rural residents with water-related recreational activities like fishing, hiking, boating and bird-watching.

Serving 30 urban and 18 rural communities with a continuous natural blue and green recreational thread, it will preserve an important wildlife corridor.

Organized and spontaneous canoe outings are becoming more frequent year round along Chartiers Creek: But access to the creek is rocky and hazardous, and water pollution often exceeds safe limits. Projects are now underway to clean-up the creek, enhancing the recreational aspects now more than ever. Your voice can make the greenway, with its land and water trails, a reality.

Land and water form a vital link from the greenway's hillsides to the floodplain, wetlands and waterways, allowing residents to enjoy the natural landscape. But convenient access is necessary for the public to indulge in the watershed's countless recreational opportunities. Ask for improved public access..

Currently, hiking trails exist on conserved parcels of land. But these parcels are not linked together in a system, nor is there a continuous hiking/biking trail along the main channel of Chartiers Creek. But there could be, with public demand.

Where that leaves us, I don't know. I have made repeated requests for copies of the actual Greenway and Trail Feasibility Study Report, but have been unsuccessful in getting one.

Thanks for that info Swalfoort.It's too bad it will probably never come to fruition but atleast I, and others asking me, will now know.

The train hasn't run along these tracks since the snowstorm. Somebody put a ski trail in next to the tracks from Bridgeville to Boyce Rd. Of course, I wouldn't know who did that.