Construction to begin for 1-mile Leechburg bike trail
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Leechburg residents will see some construction in the coming weeks as the Leechburg Area Community Development Corp. kicks off its Tow Path Trail project, which has the potential to give Leechburg access to almost 600 miles of trail.
The milelong trail will connect Leechburg to the existing 4 miles of Tow Path Trail up the Kiski River to Schenley, along the Allegheny River. It will give bikers and hikers access to a series of trails developed by Armstrong Trails that spans across Armstrong County from Westmoreland to Clarion counties.
It also will connect Leechburg to the Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway, which is a 320-mile corridor that follows the historic path of the Main Line Canal System.
“It opens up Leechburg to the trails,” said Lou Phillips, president of the community development corporation.
The trail will span from the Mill Bridge, which crosses the Kiski River between West Leechburg and Leechburg, to the Hyde Park footbridge.
“About 10 years ago, there was an effort to build the trail, and it didn’t get very far,” Phillips said. “It would’ve been a 1-mile trail, period. It wouldn’t have gone anywhere.”
In addition to the 320-mile Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway, according to the Armstrong Trails website, the organization currently has 52.5 miles of trail on the eastern bank of the Allegheny River and northern bank of the Kiski River open for use.
The recreational trail along the former Allegheny Valley Railroad corridor on the eastern bank of the Allegheny River and northern banks of the Kiski River in Armstrong, Clarion and Westmoreland counties is on the main spine of the emerging 270-mile Erie-to-Pittsburgh Trail.
Phillips said the construction is supposed to start either the last week of September or the first week of October.
“We’re not sure how long it’s going to take,” Phillips said. “The contractor thinks he’s going to be in and out in a short period of time, in a week or so, but that remains to be seen.”
The construction symbolizes breaking ground on the two-year project. Corporation members began exploring the possibility of a bike trail in Leechburg in October 2022. Phillips said they became “really active” with the project about a year ago.
The corporation ended up taking on the role of developer, sponsor and trail owner. Project funding came from a $100,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and a $25,000 grant from the Colcom Foundation.
The corporation also has money from an anonymous donor that can act as a cushion, if needed, for the project.
The trail from Schenley through Leechburg is called the Tow Path Trail in memory of the towpath mules that used to tow canal boats, Phillips said. He said the towpath became the right of way for the railroads when the railroads bought and drained the canal.
“When I was a kid, they used to talk about the towpath,” Phillips said. “I think even one of the streets was called Towpath Road. We’re calling it the Tow Path Trail because of the canal.”
Phillips predicts the trail will bring more people to Leechburg and increase business and recreation.
“While people aren’t going to flock to Leechburg because of the trail, the trail is just another amenity the town has that might attract somebody to town,” Phillips said.
Members of the community development corporation have begun speaking with Hyde Park about the possibility of continuing the trail over the footbridge to the boat ramp in Hyde Park.
Phillips now lives in Upper St. Clair but grew up in Leechburg. He and his wife own property in the borough and spend summers and weekends there with their children and grandchildren.
“I grew up in this town and really appreciated it,” he said.
“This was a canal town. The canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh ran through Leechburg. It was a shipping town in the mid-1800s, and, when the railroads came in, it continued to be a shipping town.”
Throughout the country’s different eras, Leechburg changed right along with it. Over the years, the small town became a hub for railroad shipment, coal mines and steel mills.
Now, the community development corporation wants to help the borough answer a looming question: What’s next for the town that’s had so many past identities?
“Our mission is to help Leechburg figure out what it’s going to be and help it move to the best it can be,” Phillips said.
The LACDC was started in 2019 with a mission of helping Leechburg and the surrounding communities of Gilpin, Hyde Park, Parks Township and West Leechburg grow and evolve.