Chartiers Creek Trail & Greenway Feasibility Plan
August 7, 2003

The Chartiers Nature Conservancy will host a public presentation of the final results of a year-long feasibility study prepared for Chartiers Creek Trail and Greenway. The meeting is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., August 7th, at Carnegie Borough Building on Mansfield Avenue. The purpose of this public meeting is to unveil the results of the state-sponsored feasibility study and the likely path of a proposed 26-mile long biking and walking trail along Chartiers Creek from Canonsburg Lake in Washington County to the Ohio River in McKees Rocks. When constructed, this trail would connect the Montour and Three Rivers Heritage trails and open up public access to greenspaces throughout the Chartiers valley.

The study will also assess the feasibility of a trail and greenway connection along Robinson Run from Chartiers Creek to the existing Panhandle Trail at Walker's Mill in Collier Township.

The Chartiers Creek Greenway and Trail could become the centerpiece of the Lower Chartiers Creek watershed, connecting residents with water-related recreational activities. A trail and greenway could potentially provide 14 communities with a continuous natural green and blue recreational thread as well as preserve an important wildlife corridor. About 100,000 people are estimated to live within two miles of the proposed trail and greenway.

The trail plan and feasibility study was prepared by Chartiers Nature Conservancy and its consultants: Civil & Environmental Consultants of Pittsburgh, and Simone-Jaffee-Collins Landscape Architects, of Philadelphia.

This plan reflects input from more than 100 individuals from the neighborhoods of Bridgeville, Heidelberg, Scott Township, Collier Township, Carnegie, Rosslyn Farms, Crafton, Thornburg, Ingram, McKees Rocks, and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Crafton Heights and Sheraden. Public meetings were held in Carnegie on July 26 and December 7, 2002.

The August 7th presentation will show the most feasible path for developing the Chartiers Creek Trail and help identify the parcels and funding it will take to develop it. The full study report will be available to municipal and county planners to guide their efforts for trail development. The next step after this presentation is to work with local governments and the public to build consensus for trail and greenway development goals in the valley.

For more information, call Bob Bolding at 412-580-0808.