Construction of the pedestrian-bicycling pathway from Point State Park along the Monongahela River wharf -- the first mile of the non-motorized trail from Pittsburgh to the C&O Towpath and on to Washington, D.C. -- has moved with all the speed of a cyclist climbing a very steep grade.

In the mud. With flat tires.

But after eight years of pedaling more or less in place, there are indications the long-delayed work on that section of trail between the Point and the Downtown end of the Eliza Furnace Trail has turned a difficult corner and finally reached flatter ground.

As part of its ongoing Point State Park renovations, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recently applied for a federal river encroachment permit to build a $6 million pathway that will curve out into the Mon River around the Fort Pitt Bridge piers and then back onto the Mon Wharf.

Bids also were opened Friday by the Riverlife Task Force for the $2.3 million Mon Wharf Landing project, a 2,017-foot promenade and cycling trail that will run the length of the wharf.

"It's taken longer but we're getting a much better trail as a result," said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the coalition of seven rail-trail groups that has worked for more than a decade to build and maintain the 152-mile Great Allegheny Passage, the non-motorized trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md.

Ms. Boxx once said construction work on the trail along the Monongahela River Downtown and through the Mon Valley would be finished in 2002. But changing trail alignments, delays in getting permissions from railways and companies in the active railroad corridor along the river, an inability to negotiate a route through the Sandcastle water park property in Homestead and federal funding complications have all contributed to the delay, she said.

"The projects along the Mon Wharf are all major construction projects that cost a lot of money and require a lot of permits," she said. "What I'm saying now, is that this trail will be worth the wait."

The Mon Wharf Connector, the 1,400-foot-long pathway connecting Point State Park to the Mon Wharf, would be built on steel pilings and would have a concrete surface. If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grants the required river encroachment permit without delay, the project could be bid by the DCNR next spring and finished by spring 2010.

The connector will be between 12 and 15 feet wide and will require that about a half-acre of the river be filled with rock, stone and the steel pilings, DCNR spokesman Terry Brady said.

According to plans submitted to the Army Corps Pittsburgh District office, the department will mitigate the impact on the river by including recreation features in the design of the walkway, including a kayak launch, mooring cleats and fishing areas.

Construction on the Mon Wharf Landing segment was completely redesigned after commercial river users objected to plans to incorporate permanently docked barges along the river's edge. The barge alignment could have interfered with commercial barge traffic and created hazards during flood conditions.

Work on that segment is expected to begin in September.

The new design takes into consideration the annual spring flooding of the wharf area by tilting the trail surface toward the river to facilitate silt runoff. It also includes hookups for large hoses that can be used to wash the trail clean.

Native plants that can be submerged for days at a time will be used in the landscaping, said Kelly Rabenstein, a spokeswoman for Riverlife, which has assembled funding for the wharf project from a variety of public and private foundation sources.

Riverlife has also completed design work on the Switchback project, the third part of the trail along the river. The Switchback will connect the Mon Wharf Landing promenade to the Downtown end of the Eliza Furnace Trail, commonly known as the "Jail Trail," because it runs past the Allegheny County Jail to Oakland.

Riverlife Executive Director Lisa Schroeder said it is still seeking an estimated $3 million in funding for the Switchback, which will carry the trail through a zigzag route and an elevation gain of more than 40 feet from the wharf to the Smithfield Street Bridge. The target date for finishing the Switchback is 2010.

"The Switchback is a major project because of the vertical distance and also because we want the ramp system to meet universal access standards," said Ms. Schroeder.

Another complicating factor has been the number of federal and state agencies involved in consultation and issuing permits on the trail projects.

The city and its parking authority were involved because installation of the trail-promenade will eliminate more than 150 parking spaces on the wharf. Other agencies that are involved include the DCNR and the Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Transportation.

The Corps of Engineers public comment period on the Mon Connector Project ends Sept. 13. Public comments should be submitted by that date to: Regulatory Branch, Attn.: George Brkovich, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, 1000 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4186; or by e-mail to george.r.brkovich@usace.army.mil or by telephoning 412-395-7247. Reference should be made to Public Notice CELRP-OP-F 2008-2055 in all responses.