Black's Run Bridge acquisition could connect Beaver County to national trail network (2024)

Picture a 1,500-mile trail connecting Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York.

Thetrail would connect 51 counties, establishing one of thelargest multi-use trail networks in the country.

There's only one essentialpiece of the trail network missing: Beaver County.

The Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition's(IHTC) vision for this massive trail unit would connectAshtabula, Ohio,to the confluence of the three rivers in Pittsburgh, with Beaver County as the entry-point into Pennsylvania.From there, other trails would spider off from Pittsburgh, going north toErie and New York, southwest to West Virginia and east toHarrisburg.

On an even larger scale, Beaver County's role would also add the county to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which covers 5,000 miles from Oregon to Pittsburgh, following the routes of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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There are many moving parts to makethese monumental trails a reality.

Locally, it would require aconnection of trails from Monaca throughBridgewater, Beaver and Midland, and into Ohio. Additionally,the Montour Trail, which now extends through Coraopolis, would have to be connected through trails in Crescent Township and South Heights. From there, a seven-mile gap wouldremainbetween South Heights and Monaca.

Along that gap in Beaver County, sitsBlack's Run Bridge,which crosses Route 51 between Monaca and West Aliquippa.For Beaver County tobecome part of an inter-state network of trails, acquiring Black's Run Bridge is the next step.

Black's Run Bridge andTrail Project

Chuck Betters, an investor in the county, owns multiple sitesofWest Aliquippa land along the riverbank of the Beaver River — a central portion fora trail connecting to Pittsburgh.

Due to projects he'll be working on along that portion of land, he said he can't give trail access there.

Alternatively, Betters offereda different solution.

He will gift Black's Run Bridge to the trail project, and give a significant amount of moneyrelated to start-up fees to get the trail process going.

The bridge, which he initially planned to tear down,is the safest way to cross over Route 51, Betters said.

So gifting it to the trail project just makes sense.

"We're looking for ways to help them," Betters said. "I'd like to see the project happen."

The Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC), whichsince2009has worked to create a network of trails throughout the county, conductedfeasibility studies over the last 10 years to figure out the most viable route for trail development.

Using Black's Run Bridge is the best option, said Mario Leone, co-founder of the ORTC and Ambridge borough manager.

"Black's Run Bridge is so critical to the viability of a trail network through Beaver County," Leone said. "It's a critical pinch point."

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ORTC spent more than $60,000 in measures related to acquiring the bridge.

Black's Run Bridge has been inspected by Larson Design Group, the roadbed along Old State Route 51 has been examined by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Steffey Trail Connections, and the crossing at the Mancini Bridge has been studied at length by Environmental Planning and Design.

The next step in the process remains unclear: who will take ownership of the bridge?

Since the seven-mile section of the proposed trail falls into several municipal jurisdictions,ORTC isproposing Beaver County take ownership ofthe bridge.

"The challenge for an initiative like this is you're dealing with multiple municipalities," Leone said. "Sometimes the respective municipalities don't have the capacity to take on a project like this, which is where we believe it will take strong leadership from the county to embrace a project like this."

But the county hasn't decided whether it will acquire the bridge.

Adelay in the process

Beaver County CommissionerJack Manning said the county's delay is somewhat bureaucratic.

The commissioners are figuring out where the funding for this project would come from, andif the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)funds — which totals $92 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury— can be used for a project like this.

The county received $46 million in funding in late spring and will be receiving an additional $46 million in 2022.

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The final guidelines from the treasury will be issued in October, Manning said.

Additionally, the county is already responsible for 58active bridges, Manning said, which is another reason the commissioners haven't made a final decision yet.

However, Manning, who previously servedon ORTC's board of directors,personallysupports the acquisition of the bridge, saying it would have a "tremendous impact" on tourism and recreation in the county.

"I am strongly in favor of it," he said. "I would like to put as much of that (money) into revitalizing our tourism and hospitality industry, our hotel and restaurant industry, and really making Beaver County an even more viable destination."

Black's Run Bridge gives the county a unique opportunity to "be the core of trail development," Manning added.

RiverWise, anonprofit that supports local small businesses, projects and initiatives throughout the county,is partnering with ORTC tocreate thetrail corridor in Beaver County.

Daniel Rossi-Keen, executive director of RiverWise, said now is the time to join in with networks oftrails throughout the country. But before that can take place, the county's acquisition ofBlack's Run Bridge is a necessity.

"If we don't do this, we are actually holding up networks of trails not onlythroughoutthe tri-state area but all the way to Washington state," Rossi-Keen said. "By not doing that, we're actually cutting ourselves off from physical connectivity andfrom financial opportunity."

ORTC has been working for over a decade on creating avenues for more trails throughout the county.An opportunity of this magnitude won't become available again for many years, Rossi-Keen added.

"It either happens or we wait another 50 years or more to have trails around our river in Beaver County," he said. "By not having this, Beaver County is notonly missing an opportunity to take ownership of a bridge, it'ssignaling to the broader region that we're not forward-leaning, and those are all horrible signals to send."

ORTC and RiverWise are running a 30-day social media campaign to spread awareness about the trail, including a change.org petition. For more information about the initiative,visithttps://blacksrunbridge.myportfolio.com/work.

'Trails increase economic benefit'

Pennsylvania's outdoor recreation economy generated $28.5 billion during 2019, according to a recent study conducted byJon Stover & Associates, an economic development consulting firm.

Consumers are shifting away from retail purchasing to more experience-based purchasing, the study found. Outdoor recreation also attracts tourists, which in turn supports industries including food and restaurant, shopping and retail, lodging, indoor recreation and transportation.

"Trailshavehuge economic value because of tourism," Leone said.

If Beaver County is a part of this proposed inter-state trail network,outdoor enthusiasts who take trails for a weekend or week-long trip will likely stop in the county along the way. That means eating at local restaurants, shopping at local businesses, sleeping in local hotels, andsupporting the local economy, Leone said.

"There are studies that prove when you put a trail in your community, you increase economic benefit many times over," Rossi-Keen said. "It's just another way of thinking about community economic development."

According to a study conducted by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, when schools and businesses closed in mid-March of 2020, trail use spiked so significantly the industry effectively kicked off the trail season a month earlier than usual. Some trails across the state saw close to a 100%increase in activity when compared to previous years.

"Trail use is up 80% or more during the pandemic. There was an explosion in trail use," Rossi-Keen said."It's a robust investment in the future of the region."

Courtney Mahronich Vita, director of trail development with Friends of the Riverfront in Allegheny County, said she noticed more people getting outside during the height of the pandemic.

"People who live near trails exercise three times more," Vita said.

Trails are also an opportunity for recreational creativity. Vita loves to see how people utilize trails throughout the region, even in the winter months.

For some, trails are strictly a transportation network. For others, maybe it's exercise, entertainment, or an opportunity to socialize and make new friendships.

In Allegheny County, she's seen people use trails for long-distance biking, locations tofish or birdwatch, and even use as a snowmobile trail.

"Trails are whatever you want them to be," Vita said. "It's really interesting to see how everyone takes the trail and makes it their own."

For Leone, using Black's Run Bridge in the trail development model is a unique opportunity to preserve the county's industrial history.

The bridge offers access to the industrial corridor of the county along the old Jones & Laughlin Steelsite. Leonewould like to use that section of the proposed trail for education and historic preservation, so passersby can understand where Beaver County came from as a steel industry giant, and where it's headed.

"I'd like to call it a museum, as it would tell the story of what happened across that corridor," he said.

Leonebelieves there's potential for Black's Run Bridge to even become a landmark.

"It won't be a bridge, it will be a structure," he said. "It's not just a bridge to get people across Route 51. It's going to tell a story about our past."

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