“Now that we’ve connected the Great Allegheny Passage 150 miles to Cumberland,” says Linda McKenna Boxx,
Allegheny Trail Alliance (ATA) President, “joining the C&O Canal Towpath, we go straight from McKeesport to Georgetown.” That’s some 300 off-road, bike-trail miles -- with nine more to come. (That last teensy piece, between McKeesport and Pittsburgh, is confidently expected within a year.) “Now this has become a real international tourism destination,” Boxx adds. “People were waiting for this."
Indeed they were, and literally from all over the world, if signed visitors books along the route are any indication. With two great termini –
Washington and the Point – and untold acres of unmatched flora, fauna, and history neatly sandwiched in between (including sites from the French and Indian Wars, American Revolution, Civil War, and Industrial Revolution), they come from all across America to ride her. They come from as far as China and Japan, New Zealand and Australia, England and France, Canada and South Africa, Israel and Italy and Ireland. Last year alone, people came from some 43 states, including California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
On this side of Cumberland, it’s the work of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, a coalition of seven rail-to-trail organizations that pooled resources, smarts, and former track lines to build a multi-use rail-trail system. Providing a quiet, blissful, nearly level trail system, the Great Allegheny Passage is also part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, one of eight nationally designated scenic trails.
The years alone, says Linda McKenna Boxx, are reason enough to
celebrate. “It’s been 30 years,” she says. “It’s really remarkable that
our little trail system that started with nine miles at Confluence and
Ohiopyle now goes all the way to Washington. Our promise to ourselves
and our communities and our region was to help re-invent the region
around the trail, to re-invigorate these communities that had been left
behind by steel, coal, and railroads. There are 750,000 visits to the
trail every year – and now we expect it to double.”
Once you’ve got that amount of tourists, you’ve
got economic development. First, of course, come cycler amenities –
bike shops,
eateries, sleepovers (from motels to mansions refurbished
as bed-and-breakfasts), souvenir stands, and so on. “From our
perspective,” says Cathy McCollom, “economic development was the
impetus for the entire program. Small communities like West Newton,
Confluence, and Ohiopyle have been seeing a positive impact from trail
users. Over the past three decades, businesses sprang up as the trail
grew longer and longer – because the longer the ride, the more services
are needed en route. In Somerset County alone we have 31 new businesses
along the trail.
One survey measured it as $12 million in
direct economic impact – and those are new dollars -- in Westmoreland,
Fayette, and Somerset Counties. So the Great Allegheny Passage is a
significant economic generator for those distressed communities. The
trail is a big shining light on the horizon for them.” (MOVE UP)
In
West Newton, for example, The Trailside, once a small, trailside deli,
has expanded three times in 18 months -- into a 180-seat restaurant
with a bar, balcony, and deck. His 24/7/365 business, John Markle says,
“is wonderful. One year, two people come. The next year, they come back
– with 10 or 20 more. It’s unbelievable.”
Great stuff, of
course, but for her part, McCollom is setting her economic
development
sights even higher. “Why not manufacture kayaks and bikes here?” she
asks. “We’d love to encourage that. Why not have manufacturing in the
Laurel Highlands – using sustainable energy sources? We think there’s a
real opportunity to manufacture outdoors material close to the source.”
Cycling
enthusiast Bob Gangewere is also looking to the future. A 20-year Rails
to Trails veteran, he has written some three dozen historic signs on
area trails, the Hot Metal Bridge to Washington’s Crossing and beyond.
“Now that the towns have seen thousands of people coming through,” he
muses, “they are beginning to see the revitalization effort as pretty
important.”
The next step, he says, is that the towns have to
direct people. Everything from highway signage to trail-friendly
parking to souvenir and sportswear sales, Gangewere says, “needs to be
done consistently. As the trail becomes a more effective economic
development engine for the region, it all has to be handled responsibly.
“The
world is full of people who want to ride the Great Allegheny Passage,”
Gangewere adds. “We’re advertising it as ‘the ride of your life.’ For
many people it will be.”
And Now To CelebrateNow, on top of the breath-taking scenery, GAP’s got a party coming – two of them, actually. First, there’s the Trail Town Public Art Program, an
economic development initiative of The Progress Fund, in conjunction with Pittsburgh 250 Community Connections and The Sprout Fund.
The purpose of the art, offers Regional Director Cathy McCollom, is to “celebrate the Great Allegheny Passage and the heritage of the communities that border it. Created by local artists, these pieces of original art will be placed in locations near the trail so that they can be enjoyed by community residents as well as trail users.”
In West Newton, for example, metal sculptor Bill Secunda will commemorate the town’s pioneering roots. In Connellsville, sculptor Steven Fiscus will create a metal and glass archway over the trail. In Ohiopyle, Laura DeFazio will carve petroglyphs on boulders. In Confluence, Rick Rhodes will carve wood benches, and Martha Murphey will create an interpretive sign. In Rockwood, Diane Adams will paint a mural that pays homage to the town’s railroading heritage and celebrates biking as part of the present. Finally, in Meyersdale, artist Carolyn Quinn will paint a mural celebrating the town’s founders and agricultural history.
Second, the art is to be installed in time for Celebration Saturday, September 27. In
Trail Towns West Newton, Connellsville, Ohiopyle, Confluence, Rockwood, and Meyersdale, there will be all sorts of celebrations. (See local announcements for details.)
In addition, Celebration Saturday coincides with the start of the
PNC Legacy Trail Ride, from Washington to Pittsburgh. Scheduled to take a week, the Legacy Trail Ride will join up with the Community Trail Ride from McKeesport to Point State Park on October 4, where there will be a a gala culminating in the largest ever fireworks show. And in Pittsburgh, that's saying a lot.
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Abby Mendelson’s latest book,
End of the Road, a collection of short stories, is available at amazon and bn.com.
Captions, from the top: The trail in West Newton; Linda McKenna Boxx on the Hot Metal Bridge in Pittsburgh; Justin Hoffa at the West Newton Bicycle Shop, trailside; Cathy McCollom on the trail; Trail Book.
Photographs copyright Brian Cohen