Trail development discussed

Originally published in the Huntingdon Daily News, July 1st, 2025

The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission (SAP&DC) and GAI Consultants held a public meeting at the Tussey Mountain middle-high school auditorium last week.

The purpose of the session was to discuss area trail development in relation to future recreational activities in the Saxton area.

SAP&DC transportation program manager Mathew Bjorkman welcomed a small contingency of residents and business leaders that turned out to hear the 4 p.m. presentation. He introduced SAP&DC planning and community development director Lee Slusser and GAI Consultants senior project manager Robert Genter who addressed the audience about the project.

Genter stated the trail project started a few years ago with some local stakeholders. He said this is a trail study for in and around Saxton Borough and is being funded through a grant by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the state Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

Genter said this is a project that is looking at all the positive elements of Saxton and trying to put together a plan to move forward to even make it better. He said the area has a lot of natural resources that people come here for now like Raystown Lake and many other trails.

Genter said the discussion involves talking about many other trail features in particular, but that the Saxton area has many things going on for it with all the outdoor adventure and activities and people are attracted to that. He said what they are trying to do here is to put together a plan that identifies connections from existing trail systems into the borough and also walking ADA accessibility and wayfinding within the borough itself to guide people and direct them to a plan that is safe and provides mobility.

“It’s meant to be a project that puts together a plan with priorities and budgets so that Saxton Borough, SAP&DC, Bedford County and you to build on. The whole point is to make it better for the community as well as business owners and residents,” he said.

During the presentation, Genter said they were going to go through some of the proposed routes and what those routes might look like. At the end of the presentation, the discussion opened up for questions and answers, thoughts and comments.

Genter said this is a project they have been working on for several months and what they’re going to do is put together a track support and a committee of about 14 or 15 different people from a variety of interests that will help review the plan.

The goal of the study is to look at the feasibility of connecting four existing trails (the H&BT Trail, the Terrace Mountain Trail, the H&BT Railroad Mountain Trail and the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River Trail) to businesses and areas of interest in Saxton Borough. It was stated that the trail connection plan can promote infrastructure improvements, walkability in town and increased tourism and economic development in the area.

Genter asked if anyone in the audience has kayaked down the Juniata River. He said they’re not only looking at land trails, but waterway trails also.

He noted hiking on Terrace Mountain. He said these are the types they are trying to connect to, to bring them into Saxton Borough.

Genter said this project is built on some past studies in and around the region. He said it is really about connections to both the outdoors and the community and about active transportation that is non-motorized such as biking, hiking, jogging, etc.

He said the plan includes the creation of safe lanes for people to walk, bike and drive. He said all Pennsylvania roadways have been designed for motor vehicles and sidewalks for walking and officials want to look at it differently now.

“So why do it?” he asked. He said there is a lot of health benefits including getting people outside and making it safe for them to move from home, school and shopping.

As with Raystown Lake, Genter said trails are just adding another potential layer of activities and economic stimulus. He provided a PowerPoint presentation that detailed the areas being described that are involved in the project.

One of the elements that may come out of this study, according to Genter, is its a priority project with many options. He said it has four priorities that he said officials can focus on getting them planned, designed and funded.

Genter noted as a trail town, Saxton could become a “hub” community. Saxton has a natural beauty with its surroundings and has a great history that can be tied into the former H&BT Railroad that utilized Saxton as its “motive headquarters” during its century of operations.

He said Saxton’s culture, railroad history and its natural resources are the things that need to be capitalized on to draw people to the area for recreational purposes. Genter said they are trying to reuse some of the old railroad alignments, look at where they went through the community and to make as many connections as possible.

Genter again noted the top four aforementioned routes that came out of the study. He said they had about 11 miles of concept.

He noted the fantastic efforts of Broad Top Township in developing the H&BT Trail through its municipality. The study currently underway, he said, will bring the H&BT Trail into the Saxton community.

Genter said DCNR and Warriors Path are also on board with the project. He said DCNR is already looking at building and adding on to a few more trailheads including a water trail.

The trail from Warriors Path State Park would come all the way into to Eighth Street in Saxton Borough to Main Street (Route 913) and through the community. It is hoped the trail could cut through FirstEnergy’s property and to Raystown Lake.

Genter said discussions have been held with some local property owners about the possibilities of gaining access to their properties for potential trails. Establishing trail heads close to area commerce is vital since that is where people coming in to recreate are going to spend their money.

While the access road to Warrior’s Path State Park already exists and has recently been improved, Genter said there are still a lot of improvements that will need to be made to that and in the area. He said a meeting was held with PennDOT to discuss Main Street and it is hoped that the speed limit through the community can be reduced from its current 30 mph to 25 mph.

Genter also noted the Saxton to Middletown (Carbon Township) portion of the former Shoup’s Run branch line of the H&BT. If something could be developed there, he said it would be a “win-win” situation for both Saxton Borough and Carbon Township.

“Bringing people into the area is the ultimate goal of all of this. It’s going to take the assistance and cooperation of many to make this a reality,” concluded Genter.