Southpointe connector links business district, Montour trail
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Phillip Torrez, who serves on the Montour Trail Council board, breaks in a new stretch of trail Thursday morning. “We keep making key connections, and this is one of them,” said Torrez, who is excited the pathway linking Southpointe and the Montour Trail is now officially open to the public.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The Southpointe Trail Connector linking Southpointe and the Montour Trail is just off Reserve Drive in Canonsburg. The connector, a project more than a decade in the making, officially opened Thursday.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Larry Maggi, Washington County commissioner; Cindy Fisher, Cecil Township chairwoman; Ned Williams, Montour Trail Council member; Dan Deiseroth, president, principal-in-charge, project manager and market segment leader at The Gateway Engineers Inc., and Jeff Kotula, president of Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the Southpointe Trail Connector June 22.
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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kevin McGoun, head of Montour Trail security, and Montour Trail Council board member Phillip Torrez pedal through ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the Southpointe Trail Connector Thursday morning. The 1,300-foot pathway connects Southpointe to the Cecil portion of the Montour Trail.
A new local trail is shaping up to be a road most traveled.
On Thursday, the first phase of a project linking the heart of Southpointe to the Montour Trail officially opened with a ribbon cutting near Klinger Park, where a new 1,300-foot pathway leads business people, residents and the adventurous from the Southpointe Field House to the Montour Trail’s Interstate 79 overpass and beyond.
“There are a lot of people that have told us, I live in Peters, I live in Bethel Park, I live in Upper St. Clair and I work in Southpointe. I’d like to commute to Southpointe by bicycle when I can. Well, now we have the means to do so,” said Ned Williams, a member of the Montour Trail Council.
The very first portion of the Montour Trail opened in Cecil Township in October 1992. Since then, the area has grown steadily, especially Southpointe, which boasts international, national and local businesses, residential neighborhoods, boutiques and eateries.
“We like to connect parks and communities, and clearly the biggest jewel to be now connected to the Montour is Southpointe with all of its people, with its residents, with all of its vibrancy,” Williams said. “This is a very important connection.”
For more than a decade, the Southpointe Trail Connector has been a dream for Cecil Township, Washington County and trail enthusiasts. The original idea to connect Southpointe and the Cecil portion of the Montour Trail was born in 2012, but didn’t become a shining possibility until years later.
“This project started back in 2012, so a long time ago, and didn’t really go anywhere until 2019, when we got some great partners: Washington County Chamber and Tourism Promotion Agency, Gateway Engineers, Crown Castle and the DCNR,” said Cecil Township Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Cindy Fisher. “Without them, this would not have happened.”
Ground was broken on the project in June of last year. Now, the connector is open to the public, and it’s already being put to good use.
“Thrilled is an understatement. Even today, when we were coming to set up (for the ribbon cutting ceremony), there were people coming off of it with their bikes. Somebody had a dog that she was running with. It’s very much in use, very exciting,” Fisher said with a smile.
The Southpointe-Montour connector cost $343,668 and was funded through a grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, an LSA program grant from Washington County, and donations from Crown Castle, Washington County Authority and Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency.
The township funded a portion of the project. The project was managed by Mike Galet of Gateway Engineers.
It’s the first in a series of projects that will connect the heart of Southpointe’s business district to the Montour Trail, and the first step in Cecil Township’s renovation of Klinger Park, Fisher said.
“The goal is to connect it all the way up to Reserve Drive, so you will eventually be able to get on it there, so that people who work in Southpointe can come all the way down here,” Fisher said. “The goal too is to build out the soccer complex. That’s the hope, is to get it to be a full facility that can benefit Southpointe and the hotels and restaurants and get really a true live, work, play experience.”
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi said Cecil is the fastest-growing township in the county, and was excited to see the trail connector open.
“This is what makes Washington County special,” Maggi said. “It connects Southpointe with 7,000, 8,000-plus people. We’re mixing business, pleasure, fitness and all of the things that are very in vogue right now. Through the different collaborations of local, municipal and the state funding for this, we’re very happy to be part of it. We’re proud of what’s going on here.”
So, too, is Fisher, for whom the Klinger Park and trail connector projects are intertwined and near to her heart.
“This is a project that I started when I started on the board. Honestly, there was a point where I was like, this may not happen. But I really feel like this is the beginning of our bigger vision for Klinger Park, and I just see great things to come in the future,” Fisher said.
The Southpointe connector is located at 4000 Reserve Drive and is open from dawn to dusk. At the soccer field on Reserve, bear left and follow the road; the trail will be on your left.