The Conemaugh Valley Conservancy is planning to make a river access site it owns in Seward more user-friendly.

The nonprofit has tapped grant funding for improvements at the property off Fifth Street. It intends to enhance a pathway to the Conemaugh River, establish parking areas and install signage to illustrate downstream river conditions and take-outs.

Grants for the project include $5,700 from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, $4,000 from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Canoe Access Development Fund and $9,000 from the the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

The Westmoreland Conservation District provided technical assistance and conservancy volunteers will provide in-kind services, according to Laura Hawkins, Allegheny Ridge Corporation’s Main Line Canal Greenway coordinator, who secured the grants. Plans were prepared by Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts engineers.

Work is expected to begin in the fall.

“The whole purpose is to clarify things,” said Hawkins. “They’re making it a little easier to carry a boat down to the river and making it clear what property is appropriate to use.”

She said signs will alert canoers and kayakers of water hazards and the distance to the next access point downstream, in New Florence.

She said improvement of the Seward site was recommended by “some local residents in the area that for years maintained that site, keeping it mowed, controlling invasive knot weed and using it and enjoying it.”

The Seward property offers more than paddling opportunities, Hawkins said, noting local residents “talk a lot about the quality of fishing from that site. Folks are enjoying this recovered river.

“Some locals have seen river otters in that spot. This is a big deal. Because of past damage to the river, it appeared that species was eradicated.”

The conservancy pursues restoration of natural resources and promotes low-impact recreation along the Conemaugh and Kiski rivers.

Hawkins said part of her role as greenway coordinator is “to help local partners that might need support in developing greenway assets.”

She said she is preparing to update a map of the Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway, a series of land and water trails along a 320-mile corridor that follows the historic path of the mid-1800s Main Line Canal. The improved Seward access point will be included.

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