Great Allegheny Passage in Baldwin Boro closed to fix persistent ponding

For the past eight years, Friends of the Riverfront have dealt with a persistent drainage problem along a segment of the Three Rivers Heritage and Great Allegheny Passage trails in Baldwin Borough.

Starting on Halloween, the organization closed the trail on either side of the roughly 20-yard section where water settles in order to install a permanent fix.

Work is expected to last five weeks.

“We tried just pumping it out by hand, with a water pump, and we also tried to do a drainage ditch. But it wasn’t steep enough to move the water properly,” said Kelsey Ripper, Friends’ executive director. “So we’re going to install a pipe underneath to run stormwater to the river. And we only own a small sliver of the trail, so we have to keep the work in that area.”

Allegheny County’s Regional Asset District, Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, along with individual donors, have helped fund the $250,000 project.

“We understand closures are not ideal, but our only viable solution involves ripping up the trail,” the group wrote in a news release. “We exhausted all potential detour options, and there is not a safe way around this segment of trail.”

Signage went out along the trail to notify users, and the Friends group is also placing signs in Homestead and Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The ponding is the result of a drainage pipe coming from railroad-owned property, as well as increased rainfall, which combines with the trail’s low elevation to create puddles several inches deep.

Bill’s Car Service, is available for a fee to shuttle trail users around the closure and can accommodate bicycles (412-855-4484/BillsCarService.com).