There was a serious five-mile gap in the McKeesport to Munhall section of the Great Allegheny Passage a decade ago that was solved by an additional off-road trail and two “flyover” bridges over live railroad lines.
To celebrate closing the gap in the GAP trail, the Steel Valley Trail Council is sponsoring a 13-mile, round-trip bike ride from The Waterfront shopping center in Homestead to the Riverton Bridge in McKeesport on Saturday, Oct. 9. Start time is from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Shorter routes are available, too.
More than a decade ago, bicyclists using the Great Allegheny Passage faced about a five-mile gap between McKeesport and The Waterfront shopping center in Munhall, Homestead and West Homestead.
The GAP trail is a 150-mile-long, rails-to-trail recreational path from downtown Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md.
That gap in the GAP trail was closed in April 2011 with U.S. Steel’s donation of the Union Railroad Riverton Bridge between McKeesport and Duquesne and the construction of two flyover bridges that took the trail over Norfolk Southern and Union Railroad railroad tracks near Duquesne and in Whitaker.
It was one of the most complicated sections along the entire 150-mile GAP trail,, according to the trail council.
For the Oct. 9 event, riders will traverse a mix of environments including behind The Waterfront, past the former U.S. Steel Homestead Steel Works pump house, under the Rankin Bridge, along a service road behind Kennywood Park and through the ruins of the Duquesne Steel Works, Roy Bires of Swissvale, a board member of the Steel Valley Trail Council, said.
The ride culminates at the crossing of the Riverton Bridge, over the Monongahela River, where trains used to transport red-hot steel ingots to the National Tube Works to produce rolled steel tubes, he said.
Bires, a former National Tube Works employee, will be stationed at the end of the bridge to discuss the history of the area with riders.
The Steel Valley Trail Council are the stewards of the nine-mile section of the GAP trail from Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood to McKeesport.
The Oct. 9 bike ride, with a $25-per-rider fee, is a fundraiser for the trail council to pay for maintenance of their section of the GAP trail.
Riders can pre-register or show up on Oct. 9 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the parking lot near the former Mitchell’s restaurant at 185 West Waterfront Drive in Homestead.
Snacks and drinks will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. just past Kennywood Park at trail milepost 136.5.
Registration includes a commemorative T-shirt if registered by Friday, Sept. 20 and a membership to the Steel Valley Trail Council.
Riders under 18 with an adult can ride for free and can buy a T-shirt for $10.
To register, visit steelvalleytrail.org.
