Options for trail from Oakmont to Boyce Park to be unveiled

Details of a proposed 10- to 15-mile trail from Oakmont to Boyce Park will be unveiled at a meeting Tuesday.

Officials from four municipalities have been working to develop a recreational trail from the Allegheny riverfront in Verona, through Oakmont and Penn Hills along Plum Creek, to Boyce Park in Plum Borough.

Environmental Planning and Design of Pittsburgh is working on a feasibility study. The company will present three alternatives for the trail at the meeting, according to Chris Blackwell, planning director of Penn Hills.

Planners will present a more refined plan to the public later this year.

Officials will need to decide who the trail’s primary users would be, according to Blackwell.

For example, he said, “If we want families, then the on-road routes might not be the best bet, but it is the least expensive.”

Once the public and officials from the municipalities agree on the best route for the trail, multi-municipal cooperation will be needed to continue.

“We hope to continue the momentum to the next phase, which would be the four towns working together looking for future grants,” Blackwell said.

The feasibility study is being funded through the county Redevelopment Authority’s Active Allegheny Grant Program in partnership with the Allegheny County Health Department and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Penn Hills municipal building, 102 Duff Road.