CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Another piece has fallen into place in the plan to have rail trails connect in Harrison County.
On Thursday, the County Commission awarded a bid by Ryan Environmental to construct an extension of the Southern Harrison County Rail Trail Project.
“Our intent is to finish that southern trail that will tie into the City of Clarksburg, the Mayor’s Trail and all around the veteran’s park,” Ron Watson, Commission President said. “This is one little component that’s going to allow us to continue to piecemeal that.”
The stretch will add to the current trail which runs from Lost Creek to Mount Clare at a cost of $524,600.
The state Department of Commerce estimates that over 375 miles of train tracks have been converted into approximately 30 trails for outdoors enthusiast to walk, run, hike, ride horses or bike on in West Virginia.
According to Watson, the commission has been seeking a way to connect Harrison County to other destinations for some time.
“What we were looking at one time was to have a rail trail from Stonewall Jackson Resort [in Lewis County] all the way up through Morgantown, eventually into Pittsburgh, and from Pittsburgh down to Cumberland and from Cumberland all the way down to Washington D.C.,” he said.
However, due to circumstances which include availability of unused tracks and lack of full funding, a gap in trails potentially connecting Parkersburg to Morgantown and beyond exists in Harrison County, despite years of effort.
For this reason, Watson considers Thursday’s progress a decent win for the project.
“I don’t know whether [a complete trail] will appear in my lifetime, if it will happen,” he said. “But, if I can just help facilitate from Clarksburg to Creek, it would be an achievement in itself.”
The full completion of the trail will be subject to the priorities of the commissioners leading the county at the time.
“I put a lot of value on recreation, leisure services,” Watson said. “There is a benefit to that, whether it’s for adults or kids.”
The cost of the project is being funded by grants with a 20 percent match from the county.