Tunnel opening completes bike trail in Somerset County
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MEYERSDALE, Pa. -- The Big Savage Tunnel, a 3,300-foot-long, dark, damp and dreary challenge to supporters of a bike trail linking Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., was formally dedicated yesterday about 10 miles south of this Somerset County town.
The restoration of the 95-year-old former Western Maryland Railway tunnel was the biggest physical obstacle to completion of the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage between the two towns, said Hank Parke, president of the Somerset County Rails-to-Trails Association.
The tunnel had to be dealt with because there's no way around it. And walking a bike over Big Savage Mountain is an option only for the most hardy.
Now that the more than $12 million project is completed, pedaling, jogging or walking through the lighted tunnel is a breeze. Led by Bill Metzger of Confluence, more than 100 men, women and children pedaled through it yesterday at the conclusion of rain-dampened dedication ceremonies.
"It's a lot of fun," said 4-year-old Maggie Woodwell of Indiana Township, who pedaled her pink bike through it twice. Close behind was her dad, Davitt Woodwell, vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
For Mr. Woodwell, the ride through the tunnel was a continuation of the bike ride he started Thursday on a paved part of the Great Allegheny Passage on the South Side.
"The pressure now is on to complete the passage between McKeesport and The Point," he said.
Bicyclists can now pedal 117 continuous miles from McKeesport to Frostburg, Md., said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, a coalition of seven rail-trail groups building and maintaining the passage.
Ms. Boxx, who has lobbied city, county, state and federal lawmakers and administrators for years to support the trail, acknowledged their efforts yesterday. And her "arm-twisting" persistence was cited by state Rep. Richard Geist, R-Altoona, chairman of the House Transportation Committee and an avid bicyclist.
The dedication of the tunnel will be followed today by a celebration of the completion of the trail through Somerset County. The 42-mile section runs from Confluence to the Mason-Dixon Line, about 1.5 miles south of the tunnel.
The festivities will begin at noon at the restored Western Maryland Railway station in Meyersdale. A "grand opening" ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. and will feature speakers who more than 30 years ago first envisioned a bike trail along the old railroad right-of-way and 20 years ago started building the first link from Confluence to Ohiopyle.
Mr. Parke, noting the passage of time since the first section of the trail was completed, said he has had six new grandchildren since then, "and they're all growing up on it."
For more information, go to www.atatrail.org or call 1-888-282-2453.
Allegheny Trail Alliance photoZachia Cook, 4, leads his great-grandfather, George Cook, Linda McKenna Boxx, Hank Parke and other members of the first official group to use the Big Savage Tunnel.
Click photo for larger image.
David Bear: Getting the rail back into rail-trail (05/21/06)
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First Published May 27, 2006 12:00 am
