Six-mile portion of rail trail being...

LEWISBURG — Users of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail will see portions of the trail closed as the contractor works to complete a $1.65 million resurfacing project over the next two months.Trail Manager John Del Vecchio said general contractor M&J Excavating, of Sugarloaf, started laying out materials to replace the crosspipes, which is the project's first step. The goal is to have the project finished by June 30."There is no plan to close the entire trail at any one time," Del Vecchio said. "The trail authority requests that trail users observe all posted 'trail closed' or 'workers ahead' signs posted on the trail during the project. Users can also check out the BVRT Facebook page for closure announcements and other trail-related news."A 6-mile length of the unpaved portion of the trail is going to be resurfaced. Starting just east of Meadow Green Drive in Mifflinburg and continuing east to Bull Run Crossing in East Buffalo Township.The Union County Trail Authority manages the 10.28-mile Buffalo Valley Rail Trail between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg. The trail authority was formed by the county commissioners in 2018 after the Buffalo Valley Recreation Authority relinquished management of the trail. The trail authority receives its funding from the Susquehanna Valley Visitors Bureau through a hotel tax.Del Vecchio emphasized the trail is not being paved. The "gravel" trail surface is constructed with something called Trail Surface Aggregate, which was designed and engineered by Penn State's Dirt and Gravel Road Studies for use on trails."Generally speaking, the work entails the placement of a new layer of TSA over the current surface," Del Vecchio said. "This will not only provide a new stable surface for trail users to enjoy but will also eliminate low spots and muddy spots and improve drainage, and will also reestablish the original 10-foot width of the trail. A resurfacing is a routine need but the timeframe between them can be long."In 2019, just after the trail authority took ownership of the trail, a pair of specialists from the Penn State Dirt and Gravel Road program came to evaluate the trail surface. At the time, they were impressed with how well it had held up eight years after the trail opened. They spotted a few trouble areas but were confident that resurfacing would take care of the issues, Del Vecchio said."Then came 2020," he said. "The pandemic drove everyone outside for recreation and the trail saw a huge increase in users. Daily use was more than double versus pre-pandemic use. And while it has dropped a bit since, daily use is still higher than it was. People bought the bikes and other gear needed for outdoor recreation and have continued to use them both on the BVRT and elsewhere. So we're using a heavily impacted 15-year-old trail surface."Along with the new surface, the drainage ditches on either side of the trail are being refreshed. Given the amount of trees and foliage on the trail, drainage ditches collect all the leaf litter and eventually require cleaning. Additionally, eight drainage crosspipes are being replaced, he said."The pipes being replaced are either undersized or date back to when the railroad put them in and they are failing," he said.The total cost of the work is $1,165,408. This funding comes from several sources, most notably a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant awarded in November 2024 through the Community Conservation Partnerships Program."The authority would like to thank DCNR for its support of the BVRT and outdoor recreation in the county," Del Vecchio said.