Donations sought to leverage grant for 9/11 National Memorial Trail

A $100,000 foundation grant could help planners move forward with development of the 9/11 National Memorial Trail.

First, they’ll have to collect half that amount in other matching donations.

The September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance wants to raise $50,000 by June 30, to leverage the challenge grant offered by The Colcom Foundation.

“It will be a challenge, but we do have time,” said Tom Baxter of Monongahela, president of the trail alliance.

According to Baxter, the concept of the trail began just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that claimed lives at New York City’s World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in a Somerset County field near Shanksville, where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers tried to wrest control of the plane from their hijackers.

As the 20th anniversary of that day approaches, the alliance, working with many partners, completed about half of the 1,300-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail connecting the three 9/11 sites. The circular route crosses six states and is a combination of existing recreational trails, planned new trail construction and on-road segments.

Among the longest completed off-road trail segments are a section of the Great Allegheny Passage, which leads from Southwestern Pennsylvania into Maryland, and the C&O Canal Towpath, which continues to Washington, D.C.

In Somerset County, the alliance completed a $1 million, 1.4-mile section of trail, at Garrett, that is the first in a leg of the route that will connect the Great Allegheny Passage north to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is expected sometime this spring as the alliance and Somerset County officials make plans for an adjacent half-mile section that will extend under Route 219, according to Jeff McCauley, director of trail development for the alliance.

If plans come to fruition, the trail ultimately will follow about 9 miles of a former rail line, transferred by CSX to the county for $1, on its way to Shanksville.

“We’re really pleased to have a great partner like Somerset County to make this happen,” said Baxter. “Now, we need actual construction dollars.”

Planners are weighing potential locations for trail heads along the segment, and any additional rights-of-way that may be needed, according to Lindsay Pyle, parks and trails director for the county.

“It boils down to working with local municipalities and property owners,” she said — and on funding that can be obtained for the project.

Visit 911trail.org to make a donation or for more information about the trail. Trail supporters also can contribute by shopping with AmazonSmile and selecting the trail alliance as their charity of choice. Amazon will donate a half-percent of the purchase price to the trail project.

Given the political and health crises that have shaken America, the project has taken on an added significance, Baxter said, to “unite our country and help it heal through this trail of remembrance and honor. People really need that glimmer of hope.

“Trails are one of the equalizers of humanity. They’re open to people of all ages and abilities. They offer so much for our nation.”