RiverWise hosts virtual town hall to spread awareness of proposed trail project

RiverWise Executive Director Daniel Rossi-Keen said it is important to Beaver County to have a trail system in its boundaries.

He said it is important for not just walker/bicyclist safety and economic opportunities, but to have the trails connect regionally with other neighboring counties, in order to further the future of the county.

However, Rossi-Keen believes time may be running out to begin the process of creating a unified trail system in the county.

On Wednesday, Rossi-Keen hosted a RiverWise virtual town hall to help spread awareness of the project, the Black's Run Bridge + Trail Project.

The goal of the project, which was featured in a recent 30-day social media campaign, is to have a government entity, preferably the Beaver County Commissioners, purchase the Black's Run Bridge.

More: Social media campaign for Black's Run Bridge project gets state-level attention

History behind the proposed project

Rossi-Keen said in 2008, when the Ohio River Trail Council was formed, one of their earliest goals was to put a trail system through areas like Beaver County.

From their formation, plans were being formed to place a 15-mile trail segment from Ambridge to Aliquippa.

However, their original route plans got stalled in 2012-13, when Shell announced the Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex, or "cracker plant," which is set to finish construction in 2022.

This caused the Ohio River Trail Council, and later RiverWise, to come up with an alternate route for the proposed trail segment.

This led them to propose an alternate route that requires the use of the Mancini and Black's Run bridges.

Now, Rossi-Keen said in order for this project to begin, which in turn he believes would start the goal of the county-wide trail system, somebody has to take ownership of the bridge.

"We need public leadership to make this project happen," Rossi-Keen said. "This is the heart and core of RiverWise."

A successful online campaign

Rossi-Keen said this is what led RiverWise and the Ohio River Trail Council to start the aforementioned social media campaign, to stress the importance of acquiring the Black's Run Bridge.

He said RiverWise can't acquire the bridge because they are not a nonprofit.

He also said they have been advised that it would not be a good fit for a nonprofit like the trail council to take ownership because they have been advised it would be harder to receive grants and other funding for the projects under a nonprofit.

Rossi-Keen revealed some of the metrics of the campaign during the town hall.

Over 250,000 people across the county, western Pennsylvania and beyond saw the campaign, close to 2,300 signatures have been collected on a Change.org petition, and RiverWise released 525 creative advocacy assets, such as a website, blog entries, social media posts, articles, video, the petition, and much more.

Residents from 409 different communities signed the petition so far, with the vast majority coming from western Pennsylvania.

More: Black's Run Bridge acquisition could connect Beaver County to national trail network

Documentary about project presented

During the town hall, a 21-minute documentary film was presented regarding the proposed project, by Human City Creative, titled: "Bridging The Trail: The Story of the Ohio River Trail."

The documentary shows the history behind the proposed project, interviews by people who use the existing walking trails along Route 51, who feels it is unsafe, and what would happen if the Black's Run Bridge isn't acquired.

More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyHGNWfmYZw

In the documentary, Rossi-Keen said he believes if the Black's Run Bridge isn't acquired, it will be torn down.

He said he believes this would result in halting the proposed county-wide trail project for at least the next 50 years.

Rossi-Keen said over $1.1 million dollars has been spent over the years researching this project and believes up to $10 million in local economic activity can be generated during the construction of the 15-mile trail,

"At the end of the day, we're left with one bridge that is in need of an owner," Rossi-Keen said. "We got to get this bridge...otherwise all that work, it goes away."

Meeting held with county and state leaders

On Nov. 2, a meeting was held at the Monaca Borough Building.

The meeting was attended by RiverWise and Ohio River Trail Council representatives, all three county commissioners, leaders from Aliquippa, Ambridge and Monaca and representatives from PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

The meeting was held to get local, county, regional, and state-wide input, concerns, and interest in the proposed project.

Discussion about project with commissioners

On Wednesday, Rossi-Keen came to the county commissioners' work session meeting to discuss the proposed project further.

A clip of that discussion was later played during the town hall.

More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AukLu-yoMNs

Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp III said, in previous public meetings, the board supports trails in the county, and would financially support the project, provided someone other than the county takes ownership of the bridge.

He previously said he does not want the county to own another bridge, as they already have 57, and believes there are concerns with the project, such as liabilities, easements, the bridge going over railroad tracks, and the trail going through someone else's property.

More: Not on the agenda: Camp still not in favor of Beaver County acquiring Black's Run Bridge

During the meeting on Wednesday, Camp reiterated his previous concerns, stating if the project were to happen in the future, Route 51 would have to be closed to take care of the hill near the project site.

He also claimed that during the meeting, state officials said the funding would not likely come in for the project even if the county acquires the bridge.

Rossi-Keen disagreed with that assessment, stating that the county acquiring the bridge would be the push that is needed to get more funding in the future.

He added that if a single municipality, like Monaca, were to buy the bridge, the costs for them would be very high for them, whereas if the county acquired it, RiverWise calculated that the estimated annual cost for inspecting, insuring and maintaining the bridge would be $21,400, which would translate to 13 cents per resident,

Rossi-Keen also said RiverWise has answered many of the questions and concerns the commissioners have asked in the past, such as right-of-ways, cost analysis and easements on its website, getriverwise.com.

Camp said he supports trails coming into the county, reiterated that the board would be willing to give funding to the project if someone else took ownership, and does not believe that if the 15-mile project falls through, that it would be the end of trails in the county for 50 years.

"I support the trails going through Beaver County," he said. "I don't think it is the county's best interest to take ownership of another bridge."

In addition, Camp said he believes RiverWise, in recent social media posts after their campaign ended, has been negatively targeting the commissioners, with one post stating "Commissioner's continued unwillingness to take ownership of the bridge."

He said he wonders why RiverWise has not been placing any pressure on state agencies for the project as well.

"It feels this campaign has turned against the commissioners," Camp said.

Rossi-Keen said he does not believe there has been any targeted attack against the commissioners, but believes their support is the most important thing that is needed for this project to get off the ground.

"We need a coalition working together to make this project possible. It's more than a bridge," Rossi-Keen said.

Commissioner Jack Manning, who is a big proponent of the project, said he understands the concerns made by Camp, while also believing it is important for this project to go forward to see trails throughout the county.

"I want to do it all. I want to see trails," he said. "We need to get something physically built."

Added Manning: "We have this gap. It can be a real showpiece for Beaver County."

Further calls to action

Rossi-Keen said this project is important because he believes the county is losing out to other neighboring communities, such as Allegheny County, to trails, as more and more people are walking/cycling, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

He said the public can do more actions to support the project, such as signing the petition at beavercountytrails.com.

Other actions that can be taken, Rossi-Keen said, are to message the commissioners, write letters to the editor, and to simply use the trails and record/send them to RiverWise.

"We have work to do. We have trust to earn," he said. "You all are our greatest advocates."

More: Letter: Trails investment needed

Rossi-Keen said one of the more creative things RiverWise did was create a fake dating profile request on behalf of the Black's Run Bridge, which was later placed on the social forum website Reddit.

Rossi-Keen said an organization called The Canary Coalition is also in the early stages of development to help connect the public with local and county government and other organizations.

Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: RiverWise executive makes the call to action for Beaver County trails