Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail first hall of famer

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
By Lawrence Walsh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the nation’s largest trails organization, has established a hall of fame and announced its first inductee — the Great Allegheny Passage, the 150-mile non-motorized vehicle, multipurpose trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md.

The conservancy, based in Washington, D.C., said it selected the passage for its beauty, number of users, historical significance, total length and geographic diversity.

The passage travels through Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties in southwestern Pennsylvania and Allegany County in western Maryland.

The mostly level trail has a crushed limestone surface for most of its length. Several sections in Pittsburgh that parallel the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers are paved.

“The Great Allegheny Passage is a perfect example of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s vision for communities across the country,” said conservancy President Keith Laughlin.

“We see an America where 90 percent of residents live within three miles of a trail system. The Great Allegheny Passage gets us one step closer to that vision.

“This passage is a true asset to the wonderful cities it connects and to the millions of East Coast residents and tourists who will now enjoy this marvelous corridor.”

Mr. Laughlin said promotion of the hall of fame program will include award signs for the trail, a special feature on Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Web site, and a story in Rails to Trails magazine.

“We are very proud to be named to the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame,” said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the coalition of seven organizations building the passage.

The only sections left to be completed are between the Glenwood Bridge and The Waterfront development and the eastern border of that development and McKeesport.

“Our trail system has been in development for 30 years,” Ms. Boxx said. “It’s been an enormous effort of thousands of volunteers. The national recognition of their efforts as well as the end product is a very fitting honor.”

The hall of fame award will be presented tomorrow evening in Cumberland, the fifth overnight stop for 500 bicyclists participating in the conservancy’s sixth annual Greenway Sojourn, a 335-mile ride from Washington to Pittsburgh. The bicyclists will arrive Saturday afternoon at Station Square.

Mr. Laughlin said other exemplary rail-trails will be inducted this summer and fall. The five-year program will run through December 2011 when the 25th — and final — Rail-Trail Hall of Fame inductee will be selected to coincide with the conservancy’s 25th anniversary.

The conservancy, which has more than 100,000 members and supporters, is dedicated to linking people and communities by creating a nationwide network of public trails, many from former rail lines and connecting corridors.

For more information, go to www.atatrail.org and www.railstotrails.org.

(Lawrence Walsh can be reached at lwalsh@post-gazette.com and 412-263-1488. )