Montour Trail Council to Open Two Bridges Saturday

The Montour Trail Council will hold a ceremony at noon Saturday in Hendersonville to officially open two long-awaited trail bridges in

One of the new bridges is a 118-foot long span crossing Morganza Road and the other is 110 feet above Georgetown Road, about half a mile farther east.   

The bridge at Morganza fills a gap that has existed ever since the council opened its first four miles of trail from there to Cecil Park in 1992. The former Georgetown railroad bridge had carried the trail, but was removed in late 2000.

The two bridges were constructed as a single project with a total cost of about $1.9 million. 

Funding came from the National Transportation Enhancement Program, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Allegheny Trail Alliance, Washington County Local Share Account, Washington County Tourist Promotion Agency, the Trail Volunteer Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Montour Trail Council, and the Cecil Friends of the Montour Trail.

Private donations and Montour’s Volunteer Construction crews completed the project.

“These two bridges are of inestimable value because they eliminate a pair of troublesome gaps in the middle of the 50-plus-mile Montour Trail system,” said council President Ned Williams. “They will make this central Washington County portion of the trail a highly attractive destination.”

The brief opening ceremony Saturday will be held in a newly expanded parking area off Georgetown Road, just east of Morganza Road in Hendersonville, about a mile north of the Southpointe/Hendersonville exit of Interstate 79.

It will include an announcement of plans for a branch trail from the Montour Trail into Southpointe via a new park. Following the ceremony, openings will occur at each bridge. Afterward, a light lunch will be served.

Parking at the site is limited. Organizers encourage attendees to park at Hendersonville Park, located on the Montour Trail a few hundred yards west of Morganza Road on Oriole Drive.

It is a five-minute stroll on the trail from there to the event site in Hendersonville.