Pedestrian bridge in Springfield Township is a step to closing gaps on Indian Creek Valley Trail

Terry and Joe Wentz are looking forward to the day when they can hit the trail with their bikes and travel all the way from the vicinity of Mill Run Reservoir in Fayette County northeast to Jones Mills in Westmoreland County.

The Wentzes and others who use the Indian Creek Valley Trail took a step toward that goal last week as the trail’s operator, the Mountain Watershed Association, debuted the new, improved Steyer Bridge: a 140-foot pedestrian crossing of Indian Creek in Springfield Township.

“It would be great to leave here and go all the way up to Sarnelli’s Market,” Terry Wentz said as the couple attended the bridge’s grand opening. To get to the bridge, they hiked for slightly more than half a mile along a newly finished trail section topped with crushed stone that begins at a parking area off Route 381 south of Normalville.

Across Route 381, the Indian Creek Valley Trail continues downhill through a gorge, ending at the Youghiogheny River.

Trail users may have to wait a few weeks to travel unimpeded once they cross the Steyer Bridge. The eastern end of the bridge is cordoned off for construction of a gate meant to prevent access by motor vehicles, according to Taylor Robbins, conservation and recreation manager for the watershed association.

Soon, visitors should be able to continue over an additional 2.5-mile portion of the former railroad grade that is owned by the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. Placing a smooth, finished surface on that rocky trail section is one of the next priorities for the watershed group, Robbins said.

The group has an easement for the trail section and bridge, which are included in 1,200 acres belonging to the authority. Water flowing from the property ultimately arrives at the authority’s Indian Creek Water Treatment Plant outside of Connellsville, which serves customers in the southern half of the authority’s system.

“It’s a good community project, and there was no cost to the authority,” MAWC manager Michael Kukura said. “It’s a good place for people to use and go fishing on Mill Run,” a tributary to Indian Creek.

The watershed association has a goal of obtaining easements from other owners whose properties farther to the northeast intervene between completed sections of the trail.

“There is about a 5-mile gap in the middle of the trail,” Robbins said. “Steyer Bridge is a phase of closing those gaps.”

Once those gaps are closed, the trail will stretch for 19 miles.

Improvement of Steyer Bridge, development of the adjacent trail and construction of an upgraded culvert crossing a tributary to Indian Creek were completed with a budget of nearly $400,000 raised through private and public grants, fundraising events and donor contributions, Robbins said.

Project donations are recognized on 56 memorial plaques affixed to the bridge. “Donors gave anywhere from $100 to $10,000,” said watershed board member Mary Lou Kuhns of Saltlick.

The completed Steyer Bridge is constructed of white oak atop a former railroad bridge that lacked a continuous solid surface.

“I would see people walking across the bridge with their kids on the steel beams,” watershed Executive Director Ashley Funk said. “That was always a significant concern for safety.

“Having this (wooden) bridge will provide access to the other side, so people will be able to access all the recreational opportunities there.”

That includes improved access to additional sections of the creek, which now supports trout and other aquatic life, thanks to several abandoned mine drainage treatment systems installed by the watershed group.

Robbins said the group will use a $1,500 grant from the Climate and Rural Systems Partnership for signs to be placed along the trail offering insight on mine drainage treatment, local flora and wetlands habitats.

The Wentzes, who live in Gibsonia, have owned a cabin along Indian Creek since 2006 and have been visiting the area even longer.

“When we first came here, the creek was totally orange, with all kinds of pollution,” Joe Wentz said.

Since then, his wife said, “We have definitely seen improvement in the quality of the creek, supporting a habitat for trout. We do eat some fish from the creek.”

The couple walks or bikes along the trail a few times each month. “We try to hit every section of it,” Terry Wentz said.

Shelley Meyers of Connellsville, another frequent trail user, is also a watershed association volunteer. She helped place the memorial plaques on the bridge in time for the grand opening.

“I drive up here just because of this trail,” she said.

It’s estimated that more than 20,000 people use the Indian Creek Valley Trail each year. Robbins believes that could increase if the watershed association closes the trail gaps and accomplishes another wish-list item: constructing a bridge across the Youghiogheny that would connect to the popular Allegheny Passage trail.

“It would be amazing to have that connection,” she said. “The amount of tourists we would get would conceivably increase. That would benefit the local businesses in the area.”

Visit mtwatershed.com to learn more about the trail and other efforts of the Mountain Watershed Association.