Public welcome at meeting on future of Agan Park, Riddle Run area

The Agan Park Joint Recreation Board and Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy want the public’s thoughts on the future of the Riddle Run woodlands.

The two groups plan to hold their first meeting Thursday, Oct. 23, to solicit ideas for potential outdoor recreation opportunities and small-scale development.

Riddle Run is small stream flowing through a hilly, wooded section of Springdale Township before emptying into the Allegheny River. The surrounding forest includes Agan Park, a section of the Rachel Carson Trail as well as a hillside parcel owned by the conservancy.

Agan Park sits entirely within the township, but it’s jointly managed by Cheswick and Springdale boroughs.

John Stephen, trail network development coordinator for the conservancy, said the meeting is the first step in what could be significant investment and programming in the area.

“We want to engage the community around recreation options for the future,” Stephen said.

Among those options could be additional trails, mountain biking, hunting opportunities and camping.

The conservancy and Agan Park committee jointly hired Pittsburgh-based architecture firm Environmental Planning Design to come up with a long-term plan for the woods.

Carla Lukehart, a landscape architect at EPD, said her firm is currently surveying the properties to prepare a presentation for the public later this month.

After EPD gathers initial public input at the planning meeting, the group will return to the area come springtime with a more comprehensive plan of possibilities for the site, she said.

Ultimately, Lukehart said the plan will provide a decade-long outlook for the area.

Cheswick Council President Brad Yaksich said the planning was at “step one of one thousand,” but he said it’s a great opportunity to better utilize Agan Park, which he said is “really underused.”

Focusing more on natural amenities, Yaksich doesn’t expect any larger development at the site as a result of these plans.

“We can have big dreams, but we have to be realistic, too,” he said.

At the meeting, he said he’d love to hear about potential programming ideas at the site from Scout troops and other outdoor groups.

In the meantime, the conservancy and committee have put out a web survey with about two dozen questions for community members. It can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/67VBCMG.