The Town of McCandless will boost its walkability with a new trail set to open this fall.

Brandt Trail is a nearly one-mile, natural trail starting near the tennis courts at Wall Park off Sloop Road on the western side of McCandless, according to McCandless Councilman Robert “Jack” Casey. It ends at the corner of Highland Road, Harmony Road and Glen Manor Road, he said.

Brandt Trail is one of a hybrid of trails and sidewalks that eventually leads to the commercial district of Wexford Flats.

“This important town initiative (is) to get citizens walking, jogging, biking and enjoying the great outdoors. McCandless is connecting neighbors to where they work, play, worship, educate and recreate,” Casey said.

Through a series of trails and paths, Casey said, the entire west side of McCandless is walkable from south to north, and vice versa.

“We’ll end up being one of the most heavily trailed communities in Allegheny County,” said Casey, noting much of McCandless is located within trail-friendly North Park.

McCandless Environmental Advisory Council members under the direction of EAC Member Ken Allshouse and Ricky Houghton of Trail Pittsburgh planned and cleared Brandt Trail. The McCandless Township Sanitary Authority and McCandless Public Works Department assisted.

McCandless Town Manager Brian O’Malley said the costs to install the unpaved Brandt Trail were minimal, as Casey and a team of volunteers did the work.

Casey said residents in the Oakridge and surrounding communities on the west side of the town had been asking for decades to have a safe connection to the Wexford Flats, which is now more accessible thanks to the Perry Highway Sidewalk Connection project that was completed this summer.

“That short, 550 feet of Route 19 at the top of Pine Creek Hill is the single most dangerous stretch of highway in McCandless. It’s a miracle no pedestrian was ever hit at this location. There were only 17 inches of highway to walk on the very edge of Route 19 where cars routinely travel at excessively high speeds,” Casey said.

This sidewalk is one more piece in eventually getting walkers connected to the Rachel Carson Trail, North Park trails and the Commodore Perry Trail systems, Casey said.

O’Malley said trails and sidewalks were a top priority of residents when an updated comprehensive plan, “A McCandless Conversation,” was approved in 2019.

A $400,000-plus state Department of Community and Economic Development Multimodal Transportation Program grant that McCandless received in 2019 helped finance the Perry Highway Sidewalk Connection.

A ribbon cutting was held in the spring to celebrate the completion of the Grubbs Road sidewalk, 1,600 linear foot connector to existing sidewalks along McCandless Drive, and the installation of a pedestrian bridge across Pine Creek. The Commonwealth Financing Authority awarded a $278,810 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant for the project, according to O’Malley.

Township ordinance requires sidewalks to be installed along abutting roadways of new developments, but this can be waived in certain circumstances, O’Malley said.

Trails, where possible, are less expensive than sidewalks, Casey said.

“We look for easy and inexpensive easy to get people walking and still have the second lowest tax rate in the county,” Casey said.

Ed Engler, board president of Pittsburgh Bike, is advocating trails in the northern suburbs, whether in McCandless or his home in Franklin Park. Casey said Engler assisted the EAC with some trail planning.

“I look to the parks, schools and neighboring communities for destinations to walk or bike to. McCandless is a huge hub of walking and cycling because of North Park,” Engler said.

The town administration, with the technical assistance of the town’s engineering firm, Gateway Engineers, submitted a grant application in May to DCED’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program to complete a master park and trail study in McCandless.

The park component will assess community parks and green spaces, providing the groundwork for future development, rehabilitation, and management of parks and recreational facilities, O’Malley said.

The trail component will provide the groundwork to develop a communitywide trail network to connect to parks in McCandless, North Park, and other destinations, such as schools and businesses.

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