Steel Valley Trail Council

08/27/2026

While the Trail is Closed
the SVTC is Busy Maintaining the Trail.

A few weeks ago a sink hole developed over one of our drainage areas in the closed section of trail below Kennywood An old corrugated steel drain pipe had rusted away and collapsed under the trail. Our volunteers spend about 200 hours digging out the collapsed drain pipe and replacing it with a new plastic 18 inch drain pipe. Our new excavator and other vehicles were essential in this project.

West Mifflin supplied a metal plate so that their water treatment trucks could continue to drive on the trail to get to their plant below the Phantom’s Revenge rollercoaster. The West Mifflin Public Works Department is going to asphalt pave over the new drain pipe.

When the trail reopens you will be able to bike over a new 18 inch drain pipe. This was one of the bigger projects we have completed saving thousands of dollars by not engaging a company to replace this collapsed drain pipe.

08/01/2026

07/11/2026

Trail Closing Greeted by Tree Fall

Friday morning we met at 7:00 am to start closing down the trail between the flyover bridges for the safety rock scaling project. The trail reacted angrily! A tree fell onto the trail at the Slide 2 site that initiated the hillside stabilization project. July 23 will be the third year anniversary of that big slide.

I, Roy Bires, Steel Valley Trail Council president took the picture of Mark Place, Regional Trail Corporation president cutting up the tree.

07/03/2026

Mile Marker Interpretive Sign Installation Complete

This past Wednesday we installed the second unused Mile Marker 134 behind the new mile marker interpretive sign. So we now have a sign facing unused mile markers 134 & 138. GAP Trail mile 134 is in the middle of the Riverton Bridge while mile 138 is on the top of the Whitaker Flyover ramp. Fiberglass markers were used in these two locations as the larger granite markers could not be placed in these two locations.

The new interpretive sign is beside our gazebo (GAP mile 136.5). Take a few moments to read this new sign and discover the connection between the markers and Boston Massachusetts.

06/29/2026

Some wildlife sightings..

06/26/2026

GAP Trail Mile Markers

Ever wonder about the origin of the granite GAP Trail Mile Markers? The Steel Valley Trail Council installed a new interpretive sign which documents the interesting story about the mile markers. You can read the new sign - it is beside our gazebo (mile 136.5). There will be two unused granite mile markers planted behind the interpretive sign. We installed one mile marker this past Wednesday and hope to install the second mile marker next Wednesday.

So what is the story behind the granite mile markers? I am not going to disclose it in this post. If you want to know the story take a ride on the trail and read the interpretive sign.

06/22/2026

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/trail-groups-say-vandalism-diverts-resources-from-improvements-and-maintenance/

The recent reopening of public restrooms along the Armstrong Trail in Ford City has renewed discussion about the costs of vandalism and the challenges trail organizations face in maintaining public amenities. The bathrooms near the intersection of Third Avenue and Ninth Street are available for publ...

06/14/2026

Waterfront New Apartment Building Trail Closure and Detour

We have been notified that the trail behind the new apartment building in the Waterfront will be closing for several weeks from Monday through Friday during working hours. There is a marked detour on the sidewalk in front of the building. Be cautious when using the detour as parts of the detour are too narrow for passing bikes. Consider walking your bike especially if you see a bike coming toward you.

The trail should be open in the evenings and on weekends.

The apartment building is scheduled for completion in May 2027. The company and their employees have been very gracious to the trail folk by extending the trail and quickly reacting to our concerns.

06/10/2026

We posted about vandalism on our trail, but FACEBOOK TOOK DOWN OUR POST!

One June 1, Roy Bires (Steel Valley Trail Council president) posted here:
"Graffiti Tagger Caught in the Act
One of our volunteers caught this old jerk writing “ITCH” on a barrel by the big slide below Kennywood. He has also tagged the Whitaker Flyover and other places in the Southside. If anyone knows his name please post it in the comments or call the SVTC phone number 724 405-7882 and leave a message. We want to file a police report - it would help if we knew his name and his address."

and I added a comment:
"I (Paul Heckbert) am the one who saw this man writing "ITCH" on this barrel, and took the picture posted above. I also spotted four other "ITCH" tags along our trail (Steel Valley Trail Council portion of the Great Allegheny Passage) yesterday, that appeared in the past week. See attached.
I serve on the board of the SVTC, and bike this trail multiple times per week. We’ve worked hard to eliminate litter and graffiti along the trail we maintain (the trail is not maintained by the boroughs, the county, or the state, but by volunteers). You might notice that it’s cleaner than most other trails in the Pittsburgh area. Let’s keep it that way!"

The post got hundreds of comments.

But then Facebook apparently took down our post on June 9, and we got a message from them "We removed your photo. Why this happened: This photo may contain private information that could lead to identity theft, or might put someone at risk of physical or financial harm."

That makes no sense to me! We (trail group) share a photo, in a public place, of a person caught committing a small crime, and this photo and all comments attached to it are taken down by Facebook for the stated reason of putting "someone at risk of physical or financial harm". Is Facebook more concerned about the "rights" of people to commit vandalism than about protecting public spaces such as trails?

Does Facebook's action make any sense to you?

06/10/2026

ONE ROOT Bump at a Time

The Steel Valley Trail Council is trying to make your ride on our trail as smooth as possible. Today we removed a root bump in the Bottoms section of the trail. The Bottoms is the short section of trail between the Port Perry Flyover and our headquarters by the port a potty and water fountain just past Mile Marker 136.

We cut out the bump, removed the asphalt surface and replaced it with asphalt cold patch. We try to tamp it smooth but that process takes practice and skill.

As our trail surface ages we are trying to make it better and smoother even if it is only one root bump at a time!