Riverfront group seeks Harrison's support for kayak launch parking lot grant

Harrison has until the end of May to apply for a state grant that would go toward creating a parking lot for kayakers using a nearby launch on the Allegheny River.

Friends of the Riverfront would prepare and submit the paperwork, said Courtney Mahronich-Vita, director of trail development for the group.

But it needs the township to be the applicant because the empty lot at River Road and Sycamore Street where the parking area would be built belongs to the township.

Founded in 1991, Friends of the Riverfront is a nonprofit that works with Allegheny County communities to develop the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and water trail, of which the kayak launch built in 2013 is a part, she said.

“It’s a real opportunity for us to add parking down there for the launch site and promote the launch throughout the county as an access point for the water trail,” Mahronich-Vita said.

The proposal for the parking lot, as well as development of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in the upper Allegheny Valley and Harrison’s part in it, will be discussed during a special, in-person commissioners meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 5 at the township building.

Commissioner Bill Heasley said he has received calls from residents with properties along Veterans Way, which runs along the river, concerned about a trail on the riverbank.

Township Manager Rich Hill said flyers with information about the meeting were distributed to every house along the route.

“This is their chance to speak up if they have any concerns,” he said.

Mahronich-Vita said plans are for the trail to come up from Brackenridge into Harrison on the Allegheny Technologies side of River Road, crossing over to the river side at Sycamore Street.

It then would continue on Veterans Way, which would be resurfaced, and then exit back to River Road through a lot where Veterans now dead-ends at the Army Corps of Engineers lock and dam property.

Mahronich-Vita said she will give an overview of plans for the trail, which she said is a long-term project.

The focus now, however, is on the kayak launch parking lot.

Lacking a lot, Mahronich-­Vita said those using the kayak launch park on nearby streets wherever they can. Some may be unloading at and using Veterans Way.

In 2017, Harrison asked for ATI to donate the vacant lot at the corner of River and Sycamore to the township, which it did that year “for exclusive use as recreational parking for the bike path and kayak launch,” ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said.

A house was on the lot when ATI acquired it in 2012.

The lot is a short distance from the kayak launch and on the opposite side of River Road from the river.

Friends of the Riverfront has been working to build community support for developing the parking lot.

In addition to paving, development of the lot would include sidewalks, disabled access, a crosswalk to get across River Road to the launch, and planting native vegetation, Mahronich-Vita said.

And more than just a parking lot, she said, Friends of the Riverfront would work with community groups to create a gateway to the Natrona neighborhood, complete with artwork.

A cost for the project is not yet available. Mahronich-Vita said the group would work to cover the cost through grants and with local volunteers to maintain it.

“We do try our best to have it fully covered by grants,” she said. “The township could put money into it if they like. Ideally, we try to fund it fully through grants.”