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trail tales
NTEC Launches
Excellence Certificate
During the last 20 years, communities
across the country have benefited from
the federal Transportation Enhancements
(TE) program, the largest source of fund-
ing for trails, walking and biking. As TE’s
name implies, the program is designed to
enhance
the transportation system. Rail-
trails, bicycle and pedestrian infrastruc-
ture, street furniture and landscaping,
and restored railroad stations and bridges
are only a sample of the types of projects
funded through the TE program and cel-
ebrated in their communities.
To recognize these great projects, this
January the National Transportation
Enhancements Clearinghouse (NTEC),
housed at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy,
introduced the Transportation
Enhancements Excellence Certificate
(TEEC). The TEEC program honors
projects that contribute to the transpor-
tation system, and it offers an opportu-
nity to elevate local success stories and
share best practices on a national level.
Excellent projects demonstrate some
or all of the following: use by local
residents or visitors; an opportunity for
activities previously unavailable; transpor-
tation benefits; environmental and social
benefits; and the fulfillment of a need in
the community. Anyone can nominate a
favorite project for TEEC consideration.
Projects receiving the TEEC are fea-
tured on an “honor roll” on the NTEC
website. These projects highlight creativi-
ty, innovation and successful partnerships
between the federal, state and local level
in improving the transportation system.
More than 26,000 projects of great vari-
ety have been completed through the TE
program. By distinguishing the excellent
from the ordinary, TEEC is setting the
gold standard for TE projects.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of
the Transportation Enhancements pro-
gram by reviewing the stories of TEEC
recipients or nominating a great project
at
www.enhancements.org
. To learn
more, contact Stacie West at stacie@
enhancements.org or call 202.974.5109.
We want to hear from you!
Essays should be no more than 250 words in
length and may be edited for publication. If
your essay is chosen, we’ll ask you to provide
a picture of yourself to accompany the essay.
Send your essay and contact information to
magazine@railstotrails.org or Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy, Magazine/Trail Tales, 2121 Ward
Court, NW, 5th Floor,Washington, DC 20037.
Space is limited; additional essays not
included in the magazine can be found at
www.railstotrails.org/magazine
.
NEXT ISSUE:
What is your favorite bridge
or trestle on a rail-trail? What
makes it such a memorable part
of the trail’s experience—the
view, the sensation of crossing
it, the structure itself, the people
who use it?
Deadline:
April 29, 2012.
What is your favorite part
about rail-trail history?
Digging the old swimming hole back in
1939 or ’40; (below) Bruce’s parents, Albert
and Ruth Ardinger, walk the Montour Trail
on their 70th wedding anniversary.
By Bruce Ardinger,Westerville, Ohio
M
ontour Valley Park, where I
lived from ages 2 to 5 while
my father served in World War II
and where my younger brother
was born, was then a privately
owned recreational area locat-
ed along Montour Run—near
what is now Greater Pittsburgh
International Airport. My father’s
stepfather owned the park and ran
a dude ranch. My grandmoth-
er managed the dance hall and
refreshment stand.
Families would come down for a
day to get out of the city or to rent
one of the cottages. In the park they
could play ball, hike, bicycle, go horse-
back riding or swim in the creek. Each
spring, a swimming hole had to be dug
out by hand so it was deep enough to
dive from the shale rock cliff that ran
along the south shore of the creek;
the more adventuresome would drop
into the creek from a rope swing. My
parents met
there as
teenagers
when my
mother’s
family rent-
ed a cottage
for the summer.
The park was bisected by the
Montour Railroad, a line created
to move coal from the Appalachian
mines to the thriving steel mills in
Pittsburgh. After the war, the park
was sold, fell into disrepair and even-
tually was abandoned for decades.
Now, however, it again is a source of
family recreation, as the old Montour
Railroad has become the new Montour
Trail.
The original Montour Valley Park
location is between mile markers 3
and 4 of the trail, and my parents—
Albert and Ruth Ardinger, both now
89—recently walked that section in
celebration of their 70th wedding
anniversary.
Courtesy of Bruce Ardinger (2)