Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials have money left over for another 750 feet in Export

Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials may not have determined precisely how they’re going to finish the section connecting Export and Delmont, but leftover funding from the trail’s fourth phase will extend it another 750 feet eastward.

Construction of the trail’s fourth phase, connecting Murrysville and Export, wrapped up with some money remaining, said Jeff Richards, the county’s Parks Planning Coordinator.

“It’s hard to give leftover money back,” he said. “And I don’t want to do it.”

Instead, Richards and trail officials propose extending the trail and adding 40 parking spaces to the east of where the borough’s war memorial is being relocated.

“We want to work with Export to make this work for everyone,” Richards said. “Right now, a lot of the people using the trail are parking in the common areas, and local business owners really need those spaces for people coming to shop.”

The trail extension is the latest element in a series of projects planned for that area of the borough. The town’s war memorial is being relocated this week, and the Export Historical Society is hoping to finish construction on a replica of the borough’s former train station by August.

“Once that building is there, we’d like to follow on the heels of that with the trail,” Richards said.

“This is good,” said John Nagoda, a borough councilman and historical society member. “We need this. We have to design everything else around it.”

Council members voted unanimously to write a letter supporting Richards’ request to the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for a change in the scope of the project.

Council President Barry Delissio said borough and trail officials will get together as they move ahead with their respective projects, “to make sure we’re not crossing each other’s paths or accidentally duplicating anything.”