Oakmont plans to construct a pump track through state purchasing program

Oakmont officials plan to skip the traditional project bidding process in favor of a state-approved contractor to create a pump track in Creekside Park.

Borough Manager Scot Fodi said council is expected to hire American Ramp Co. through the state Department of General Services’ COSTARS program at its March 15 meeting.

COSTARS is a cooperative purchasing program designed to help municipalities and other government entities save money when buying supplies and services.

“The only vendor that can build it is a COSTARS vendor,” Fodi said. “A pump track is a trademark, like say a Big Mac. You don’t go to Burger King and ask for a Big Mac. If you want a pump track, this is the company that makes it.”

A pump track is a continuous loop of berms and mounds that bicyclists can ride on without pedaling. Its name comes from the pumping motion that riders’ upper and lower bodies make as they ride around a track.

Contract costs should be announced at the upcoming meeting. It is unclear when construction would begin after the deal is approved.

Bid documents for a new parking lot at the park are being developed.

Council vice president Leah Powers said flooding concerns have forced the borough to move the pump track to the current parking lot site, and build a new lot closer to the creek. The parking lot project may be awarded in April.

The track would have an asphalt surface constructed on one-quarter of an acre of Creekside Park near the sand volleyball court and soccer field.

Permit approvals came from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Allegheny County Conservation District.

Council president Patricia Friday at previous meetings said the pump track would be an exceptional addition to the borough’s recreational amenities.

“It will give the children an opportunity to experience this kind of activity in the borough and not have to try and find it in a park somewhere else,” Friday said.

Oakmont received a $232,000 grant through the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program to help fund the project, which includes an extension of the walking/bike trail.

A 1,470-foot walking/biking trail that is about 8 feet wide and made from crushed limestone was installed in the park in 2016.

The next phase in its development is a proposed 5,330-foot extension of that trail, and it would go from the park both east and west along Dark Hollow Road.