Allegheny Highlands Trail Opens

This was in WABA's 11/30 quick release, but the Baltimore Sun wrote a lengthy article about it with maps and pictures and all the trimmings.

Trail advocates and government officials will celebrate completion of the East Coast's longest rail trail tomorrow with a ribbon-cutting along the banks of the Potomac River, where the trail and the towpath meet.

The state has two of the top 10 most popular rail trails in the nation. The 14-mile Baltimore and Annapolis Trail and the 22-mile Northern Central Railroad Trail in Baltimore County each attract 1 million users annually.

As does the Capital Crescent Trail - which is partly in Maryland.

Even in its incomplete state, the rail trail was used last year by about 400,000 people, a number that is projected to triple with the completion, and that's music to the ears of Cumberland officials.  City officials and merchants began to see a change last fall, when the Great Allegheny Passage closed to within a few miles of downtown. Although detours on local roads from Frostburg were hard and dangerous, people began making the effort.

Maryland has 21 rail trails that cover 115 miles, with another 24 trails totaling 264 miles in the planning stages.

The trail isn't finished yet.

The nearly 328-mile route will grow to 337 miles when the final nine miles from McKeesport, PA to Pittsburgh is built.

Then you can bike commute to DC from Squirrel Hill - if you can pedal fast enough. The next addition to this could be a connection to the Western Maryland Rail Trail.

Great photostream here.

Comments

[Chris]

I did the ride from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC about 3 or 4 years ago, and it was a lot of fun. At the time, of course, you had to do portions on the road. I suppose some might be a little squimish about doing some of the road portions, which is why this is good news - it makes the ride more accessible for more people (even if the accessibility is more self-imposed than real). I remember seeing portions of the trail under construction, and it sure looked like there were some spectacular vistas from some of those high railroad trellises.

There's another article about the trail in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06349/746358-140.stm, as well as positive editorial here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06352/746932-192.stm. Among other things, the editorial states that the trail "is a project that is all about fitness, health and vitality -- and is nothing if not cool. It would seem a natural ally to the city's efforts to keep and attract young people."

I'm really digging this idea that bike trails are a viable part of economic redevelopment.

[Chris]

For anyone who cares, I've posted further random musings on this subject on my team's blog: http://www.racingunion.org/CommentView,guid,67b594ce-557f-46ac-998c-31259e170055.aspx