Temporary closure announced for portion of Butler Freeport Community Trail

Trail users will experience a temporary interruption in trail accessibility between the Monroe Road and Bear Creek Road trailheads in Buffalo Township.

The nearly 1-mile section of trail will undergo streambank remediation beginning Nov. 17, according to the Butler Freeport Community Trail Council.

In post on the trail council’s Facebook page, the group’s president, Chris Ziegler, said the corridor is too narrow to comfortably allow construction equipment and trail users at the same time.

“We ask all trail users to respect the closure and stay out of the work area for safety, be patient as this important project is completed, and enjoy other open sections of the trail in the meantime,” Ziegler’s post said.

The project will include the removal of a sand bar in Buffalo Creek and the placement of a large riprap along the embankment to stabilize the bank. A riprap is a layer of large, loose stones or chunks of rock used to protect slopes and soil from erosion.

“There will be no recommended detour,” the post said. “Instead, we encourage trail users to explore the five miles of open trail from Monroe Road to Freeport or the stretch from Kaufman Drive to Bear Creek Road. With 20 additional miles of trail open and available, this is a great opportunity to discover another section you may not have visited before.”

The work will be paid for by a PennDOT Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside grant secured by Buffalo Township supervisors. The contract was awarded to Plum Contracting of Pittsburgh for just under $500,000, Ziegler said.

Ziegler said the community risks losing the trail without the work being done. She said if the weather cooperates, the work could be completed by the end of the year, but there is no guaranteed timeline.

Similar work has been done previously to this section of the trail. Ziegler said emergency repairs were made to the trail several years ago at an out-of-pocket cost of $80,000.

“This is a case of short-term pain for long-term gain,” Ziegler’s post read. “Once complete, the remediation will protect the trail for decades to come, ensuring it remains a safe and scenic asset for the community.”