LAWRENCE COUNTY Part of trail will be built
The hiking and biking trail will stretch about a mile from Croton Avenue to the Paper Mill Bridge.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- It's taken nearly a decade, but Frank Alduk's dream is finally coming true -- at least part of it.
Alduk, a Neshannock businessman who died in 1993, envisioned creating a 14-mile hiking and biking trail along the Neshannock Creek where the abandoned Penn Central Railroad bed is located.
Just before his death, he bought the right-of-way and established the Alduk Neshannock Trail Corp. for use as a public bike trail.
Development of the trail was difficult, however, as some property owners along the stretch claimed ownership of portions of the land and put up barriers for hikers and bikers.
Ready to go: Lawrence County commissioners say they are ready to move forward with the trail, though it will only be about a mile of the original trail. It will stretch from Croton Avenue to the Paper Mill Bridge at the Hickory Township line.
To complete the entire 14-mile stretch would be too time-consuming and costly, said Commissioner Ed Fosnaught.
"It would involve eminent domain and disputes over property lines and it would cost a whole lot more than $250,000. Plus the people who live out there don't want it," he said.
"We want to make it a leisurely trail with things for people to look at," he added.
The county is getting $200,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to complete the trail, and commissioners agreed last week to provide a $52,000 financial match for the grant.
Fosnaught said they will likely use the value of the land, which the Alduk family is donating for the trail, as the grant match and not cash.
Alduk's son, Dennis, said he is pleased that the county is completing his father's dream -- albeit an abbreviated version of that dream.
"He was always interested in doing something for the community. He was always community-minded and a member of groups like the Rotary. He did this with the intention of making a trail everyone could use and then came the property disputes," Dennis Alduk said.
Lawsuits: In 1993, there were at least five lawsuits filed in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court that intended to stop the trail's progress, according to Vindicator files.
Dennis Alduk said he never understood the problems others had with his father's idea for a hiking and biking trail.
"Through the years he was always trying to convince communities that it wasn't going to be a problem. I think you will find in any community that has these type of trails, it's considered another asset. It's like having another park. It's just one more asset to the community," he said.
Ross Taylor, county engineer, said work on the trail should begin sometime next year.
"We will pave it and put some areas where people can stop and watch the water go by and hopefully have a pleasant time," Taylor said.