Biden expected to sign legislation for feds to assist in 9/11 National Memorial Trail

President Joe Biden is expected to sign legislation unanimously passed by Congress supporting the development of the September 11th National Memorial Trail, a proposed 1,300-mile recreational trail linking the three 9/11 crash sites.

The legislation will enable the Department of the Interior to assist in developing the trail route, signage, interpretative guides and educational materials.

The recreational trail was proposed just days after the terrorist attacks, leading to the formation of the nonprofit September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance. The organization will continue to lead the effort to develop the trail and raise money to complete off-road trail sections.

Currently, the 9/11 memorial trail is a patchwork of about 55% off-road trails and 45% existing roads that connect the three 9/11 memorial sites in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and Shanksville.

Regionally, the trail is expected to spark economic development in communities along the route in Somerset County.

“We’re already seeing cyclists using the route,” said Tom Baxter of Monongahela, president of the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance.

Businesses such as Whitehorse Brewing in Berlin have more customers stopping on bikes, Baxter said. He suggested the business consider installing bike racks.

In Garrett, the first section of new, off-road 9/11 trail opened earlier this year. The new 1.5-mile trail is part of a critical segment of the 20-mile trail connecting the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville to the Great Allegheny Passage trail in Garrett.

The Great Allegheny Passage trail stretches 334 miles to Cumberland, Md., accounting for a large trail segment that could someday link to the 9/11 memorial site near the Pentagon.

The alliance is working on a new off-road section in Somerset County with details be announced later this year or early next year, Baxter said.

The Senate passed the 9/11 Memorial Trail legislation on Oct. 1 after the House passed it on July 30. The bill went to the president’s desk on Oct. 5. Baxter has been working with the White House as it prepares for the president to sign the bill in a public ceremony, which Baxter will attend.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks, and Virginia Democratic Reps. Gerald E. Connolly and Don Beyer.

David G. Brickley founded the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance while serving as director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and a Virginia state legislator. Now the alliance’s president emeritus, he thanked the members of Congress for their “immense support and bipartisan leadership. Twenty years ago, I envisioned a federally designated 9/11 Trail that would commemorate that tragic day for future generations. Now that opportunity is here.”