South Side Trail Connection Closure (Temporary)

PIC_2015_CSXTrailClosureSouthSide2nd4thStreet2

Red line indicates the portion that will soon be fenced off

Trail Users Should Take Marked Route

By Ngani Ndimbie
Beginning Friday, October 2nd a stretch of the CSX Railway property in the South Side parallel to the river will be temporarily blocked off off to pedestrians and people on bikes between 2nd and 4th Street*. This section of railroad property is a commonly used connection on the South Side segment of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail.

The temporary fencing will prohibit people who are walking and biking from accessing and using CSX property from 2nd Street to 4th Street.

We’ve been told that an an opening of 10 feet will be created at 2nd Street and believe that this opening will allow for trail users to for trail users to continue west along the trail from 2nd Street.

Since this stretch isn’t actually an official part of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail system, there is existing “River Trail Detour” signage that routes bicyclists and pedestrians around that section of CSX property using South 2nd Street, South 4th Street and McKean Street (right by the Terminal Building).
 

Wait. Where Again?

*This length of land is actually pretty hard to describe as it doesn’t have a street name. So here’s my best shot: You know when you’re riding on the South Side segment of the trail towards Station Square and you pass through or near a parking lot and then make a left to go over some train tracks (the trail dead ends into a building otherwise)? Right after that things get a little sketchy if you take a sometimes narrow, sometimes graveley, not-well-maintained path next to the train tracks for about two blocks. That’s the part that will be closed. If you’re coming from the other direction this is what you may know as the sketchy portion shortly after the Smithfield Street Bridge.


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3 Comments

  • paulheckbert says:

    Ngani: maybe you could tell the people who set up the detour (CSX or Frank Bryan Inc?) that the loose gravel they put down in the past week where S 2nd St meets the trail is awful for cyclists. Our tires plow right into it. That kind of gravel might work for trucks but it’s no good for bicycles. Please tell them, for next time. Also, if this gravel is going to be part of the trail for more than a month, I suggest that’s too long, and the gravel should be replaced by or covered with crushed limestone or asphalt. Even dirt would be better. Thanks.

  • Ngani says:

    Hey Paul! This is really important feedback – thanks. You should pass it along to the great folks at Friends of the Riverfront: http://friendsoftheriverfront.org/. They’re the stewards of the riverfront trails.

    Ngani

  • […] lower floor of the powerhouse building abuts the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which currently detours around the Terminal Building. Rudolph says he hopes to reconnect the trail “in the very near […]

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