NANTY GLO, Pa. – Representatives of local and state organizations gathered Monday to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the last section of the largest rail-trail loop on the East Coast.
They huddled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony under the new Church Street box culvert near the North Street trailhead of the Ghost Town Trail.
The cast-in-place concrete overpass provided shelter from the elements as speakers touted the benefits of outdoor recreation in the area and what finishing the project represents for the region.
“Watching the whole thing come together was so exciting,” Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority Executive Director Cliff Kitner said.
He said the project couldn’t have gone any better from its start in September to its completion by the middle of November.
This phase of the project included construction of roughly half a mile of trail and the installation of the box culvert under the roadway. The cost of that work totaled about $900,000.
Engineering services were provided by Keller Engineers Inc., and Cottle’s Asphalt Maintenance Inc. carried out the work. Kitner credited both companies for a job well done.
Kitner also talked about the importance of outdoor recreation to the area and the state. He said that according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the outdoor industry contributed $19 billion to Pennsylvania in the past year, a 10% increase since 2022.
A highlight of the new culvert is the use of rocks from the former Red Mill Bridge abutment that now line the path leading to and from the Church Street structure. Inside the tunnel, the concrete was colored and designed to resemble those stones.
Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky lauded the work of the CCCRA and the expansion of outdoor recreation in the county.
He said when he talks to businesses looking to expand in Cambria County, they ask about the county’s success with outdoor recreation, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center’s Level 1 trauma center and public transportation.
“We’re winning here in Cambria County,” Chernisky said.
Other speakers included state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Regional Adviser Lindsay Baer; Cambria County Commissioners Scott Hunt and Keith Rager; state Rep. Jim Rigby, R-Ferndale; state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Richland Township; and CCCRA Board President Thomas Kakabar.
Each said that hard work goes into trail development, the CCCRA has taken leaps and bounds to improve the area, and the rail-trail loop will be a benefit to the region.
Langerholc said that Cambria County is the best when it comes to these projects and that he’s proud to support the authority and outdoor recreation development. He also vowed to continue to help pursue maintenance funding for trails, citing a $100,000 grant he delivered to the CCCRA in October to that end.
The next phase of the Ghost Town Trail expansion project includes coal refuse remediation work, similar construction to the first phase, and completion of the final 1 1/2 miles of trail east toward Nanty Glo, where it will meet the Ghost Town Trail’s C&I Extension from Ebensburg.
Kitner said the goal is to open the loop in 2025.