Musser Gap Access Trail
The Pennsylvania State University & The Clearwater Conservancy, Centre County, PA
| PSU & Clearwater Conservancy Musser Gap Access Trail.pdf |
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Stahl Sheaffer Engineering collaborated with The Pennsylvania State University and Clearwater Conservancy to design a recreational trail that provides a safe connection for pedestrians and bicyclists between the Penn State campus and Musser Gap, a gateway to Rothrock State Forest. This recreational trail, which took 7 years of planning and development, allows pedestrians and bicyclists to access a local state forest safely from almost anywhere in State College. It provides a link between the University, the Centre Region bikeway system, and the Musser Gap Trail which begins at the base of Tussey Mountain and extends for miles into Rothrock State Forest.
Challenges faced by the project team included:
Innovative approaches included:
Challenges faced by the project team included:
- Collaboration with many stakeholders, including the University, Conservancy, consultants, sponsors, PennDOT, agencies, police departments, and local municipalities.
- Funding from federal, state, and local governments and private organizations, foundations, and individuals as well as in-kind professional services and donated services.
- Site engineering issues such as stormwater drainage, signage, stream crossings, and highway crossings.
- Coordination with adjacent property owners and ongoing farming operations.
- Floodplain Zoning Variance requirements.
- Environmental protection strategies.
- Archaeological resources identified.
Innovative approaches included:
- Trail Surface Aggregate (TSA), a specific mixture of aggregate developed by Penn State’s Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies engineered for trails to resist wear and erosion.
- Stream buffers and customized vegetative management.
- A pre-engineered bridge system.