Commissioners hear presentation on Brookville Trail Hub

BROOKVILLE — The Jefferson County commissioners heard a presentation on the Brookville Trail Hub at last Tuesday’s commissioners meeting.

Paul Boboige, Brookville Trail Hub, said he came in to a follow up on a couple issues. In regard to the Interstate 80 East project, he asked that the commissioners sign a letter of support for extending the trail, crossing Interstate 80, to Brockway. He said one of the hindrances to that was when a railroad bridge was taken out. He said there wasn’t an alternate route and the comprehensive plan had the trail going around on a hilly and circuitous route. He said the Brookville Trail hub did some investigating and found it is only a half a mile from the old railroad bed to Sulgar Road, where the bridge is. He said it would be beneficial to have an access road there.

He said PennDOT is replacing the bridges on Interstate 80 near Brookville. He said PennDOT is going to put a temporary road in and increase the right-of-way, which will be helpful to them because it will make a lot of terrain more accessible. He said they want to piggyback on that project. There is not enough rightof-way for a parking area near Sulgar Bridge, so they are asking them to increase their right-of-way. He said PennDOT doesn’t want to give any more right of way than is required, but with the letters of public support, there is an opportunity to increase that rightof-way.

He said they are also asking for funds to support their application for a feasibility study, which is made mandatory by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources before any project takes place. He said the feasibility

study is meant to look at the area of Red Barn Road in Allens Mills to Brookville. He said they applied for a grant, but were turned down because planning projects are not high priority.

He said last year the commissioners committed $2,000, and asked them to do that again. He said they are looking into a standard DCNR grant for the feasibility study. He said they will have a better chance of getting that, but require 50 percent local funding.

He said the estimate they received from the engineer was between $70,000 and $75,000. He said they need approximately $36,000. He said they would use their treasury to support what they can and do more fundraising, but they have to have the commitment by April 3. He asked if there would be any funds available. He said if they get the grant, the commitment would be expended between October 2024 and sometime into the fall of 2025. He said they are asking for a $30,000 commitment and they appreciate anything the county could do. The commissioners thanked him for his presentation.