New Verona kayak, canoe launch to improve access to river recreation for all, officials and residents say
Anyone who has tried to launch a kayak from a muddy river bank knows it can be difficult.
For Lester Bennett of Munhall, who has lived with a spinal cord injury for more than 30 years, it would be impossible.
But a new handicapped-accessible public launch on the Allegheny River in Verona enabled Bennett to go kayaking for the first time Sunday.
Bennett knows the launch will help more than people with physical disabilities.
“When you make things accessible for people with disabilities, you make things accessible for everyone,” he said before embarking on his adventure.
Officials and residents gathered at Steel City Rowing on Sunday to celebrate the grand opening of the BoardSafe launch, a partnership among Steel City Rowing, Verona borough and Friends of the Riverfront.
The launch makes it possible for some and easier for all to get into a kayak or canoe and, by hand, launch into the river.
“It turns the loading and unloading of a kayak or canoe from an unstable experience into a stable one,” said Will Brown, a board member of Steel City Rowing and its former director. “It’s a much easier process. This creates a controlled, stable, step-by-step experience that makes it possible for some and easier for many others to get into the water and enjoy the river.”
To meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the launch was installed on Steel City Rowing’s dock. Through a collaboration with Steel City Rowing, the new launch will be available to the public while the rest of the dock remains private, said Trish Hredzak, vice president of Verona Council.
Bennett, who has been in the area before with Three Rivers Adaptive Sports, noted the ramp on the borough’s dock nearby is too steep for someone like him in a wheelchair.
“I love the fact that I’m able to easily traverse from the land to the dock,” he said. “They made it more accommodating for me so I can try more things.”
The launch, including customizing it to the dock, cost $70,000, said Katie Craig, trail development coordinator with Friends of the Riverfront. Two grant programs covered the base $60,000 cost, while Steel City Rowing and Verona Borough helped fund the additional $10,000.
Beyond those with disabilities, the launch will increase the comfort and confidence for many in accessing the river, Craig said.
“At the end of the day, that’s what you want to have out on the water — confidence,” she said.
Shane Beichner and Kathleen Mullavey, a married couple who live in Verona, were among the first to use the launch. While they don’t have physical impairments, they said the launch would entice them to kayak more often.
“We’re looking for our millennial midlife crisis,” Mullavey said.
While they have been canoeing before, it was Mullavey’s first time kayaking. She said it’s important for such launches to be available.
“Everyone wants to enjoy the outdoors,” she said.
The Verona launch is the second on the Three Rivers Water Trail that is ADA-compliant, said Kelsey Ripper, executive director of the Friends of the Riverfront. The other is in Springdale.
The organization is studying adding an ADA-accessible launch on the Monongahela River in Braddock, she said.
While the Verona launch is in place, more work remains and is planned to be done leading up to it. That will include resurfacing Arch Street from Steel City Rowing to Grant Avenue, which will include adding a bike lane and parking, Hredzak said.
Steel City Rowing has a site plan in progress to improve parking at its facility, which is unmarked and limited, and to create a more accessible route to the dock, which currently requires traversing grass.
After having a plan done this year and a request for funding out by the end of the year, Brown said officials hope to break ground on the improvements in 2026.
A land trail under development known as “VOPP” — for Verona, Oakmont, Penn Hills and Plum — would connect the riverfront at Steel City Rowing in Verona to Allegheny County’s Boyce Park in Plum. The completed design for the VOPP trail will be presented during a public meeting beginning at 6 p.m. July 29 at Steel City Rowing.
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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