: : : : Memorial Lane

Memorial Lane

Project Description:

The Memorial Lane project beautifies the path to the entrance of the Montour Trail, creating a more peaceful and beautiful transition between the city of Clairton and the trailhead.

This beautification project has incorporated new benches for folks to rest on, birdhouses, scattered planting beds for flowers to brighten up the path, and finally trees coupled with name-plates to memorialize friends and family members of community members.

Who this project is supposed to serve?

The project will serve those who currently love to walk the Montour Trail by making it incrementally more special. It will serve those who might otherwise not notice the trail, by making the entrance more visible and possibly encouraging them to investigate and discover an affinity for this great community asset. Memorial Lane will also serve those who simply want more intentional green space in their neighborhood, to enjoy nature without the difficulties presented by a longer hike. The project also serves Clairton as a show of neighborhood pride. When folks from outside of Clairton make their way to the end of Montour, they will see immediately how much Clairton residents cares about their community.

Why choose this project:

The Clairton entrance to the Montour Trail is currently situated in a somewhat uninviting location behind the Clairton Municipal Sewage Plant. Currently, people have to take a short, but significant, walk from the parking lot, and along the sewage plant, before arriving at the actual trail. The Memorial Lane would brighten up this transition, allowing people to feel the calm of natural space as they approach or exit the trail.

A major motivation for this project was to incorporate an idea that was proposed during the planning for the Memorial Hill park in Clairton, but that was never actually implemented. This idea, memorial placards on newly planted trees, is a great way to remember those friends and family members of the Clairton community who have passed on. If this aspect of the project is well received, it may be built upon in other locations in a later phase of the project.

Workday Updates:

On April 28th, US Steel volunteers helped us bring the site to life by planting over 30 trees and a mix of other foliage, creating a hillside garden bed, and installing benches along the trail entrance.

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