A Norwin-based trail group is seeking a feasibility study to transform a former trolley line into a 1.5-mile hiking and biking path connecting Irwin and North Huntingdon.
Dan Korhnak, co-founder of the nonprofit Friends of Norwin Trails, told North Huntingdon commissioners that the group will commission an engineering firm to study the Trolley Line Trail. Most of the path would sit in the township’s Sixth Ward, connecting Irwin to the village of Larimer.
The route would skirt the northern edge of Hilltop Park, providing trail users direct access to the recreation area, Korhnak said.
The trail would follow a former West Penn Railway route of the Pittsburg, McKeesport and Greensburg trolley line, which ran from Irwin to Trafford for about 40 years, from the early 1900s to the 1940s. According to a proposed map, the Irwin portion of the trail would follow First Street and Western Avenue.
To fund the study, the organization received a $23,300 Community Conservation Partnerships Program grant through the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The trail group matched that amount with $23,300 it raised independently, Korhnak said.
The group, founded in October 2022, plans to issue requests for proposals and hopes to begin the study in June. The research will include a survey of the proposed route, potential alternate paths, and public input. Korhnak noted that part of the proposed route parallels Brush Creek and Route 993, running along private property that would require easements.
The group plans to notify the public of upcoming meetings through the Norwin Star and email.
“We want to make sure it’s what we want,” Korhnak said, emphasizing the importance of community feedback.
To oversee the process, the group intends to form a nine-person committee representative of the community. Korhnak said they hope a township commissioner and a representative from Irwin will join the committee to help get the project off the ground.
