19-04-2025
CCCRA awards contract for final piece of Ghost Town Trail loop
EBENSBURG, Pa. – The Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority awarded a more than $2 million contract Friday for the final section of the Ghost Town Trail C&I Extension loop.
Kukurin Contracting Inc., of Export, had the low bid, pending review by necessary parties. The work will consist of building two bridges over roadways and construction of less than a mile of trail for a total of $2,732,732.
'We're at the point I can see the finish line,' CCCRA Executive Director Cliff Kitner said. 'I'm excited to finally get there.'
Once it is complete later this year, the connecting piece will finish the only rail-trail loop on the East Coast and just the second in the country.
'It is the linchpin to completing the Ghost Town Trail loop,' CCCRA Board President Thomas Kakabar said of this trail section.
In December, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Ghost Town Trail's North Street trailhead in Blacklick Township for completion of the first section of the final piece of the loop, which included trail-building and construction of a box culvert that the trail now runs through.
Kitner said work for the last portion had six bidders and the amount came in slightly higher than expected.
Despite that, the work will move forward and be paid for through grants the authority has received from the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
In other business, the group discussed future installation of the Joseph Dushaw Rest Area in Ebensburg along the Ghost Town Trail. They approved a quote from Milkie's Lawn & Landscape not to exceed $2,034 for gravel and stone to help develop the site.
Kitner said in discussing the project with Milkie's, there may be some changes to the final design, but the work is coming along.
Alex Cruley, maintenance specialist, said he and fellow maintenance specialist Vincent Heiss will install benches in that area in the coming weeks.
