Welcome To
URBAN TRAILS
Our Mission
The mission of URBAN TRAILS is to establish green corridors through urban spaces in the city of Pittsburgh.
By investing in the ecological health of our cities we will improve water quality, reduce localized flooding, increase access to green spaces and create climate resilient communities.
Woods Run Watershed
In 2020, Urban Trails started as the Woods Run Watershed Taskforce, a collaborative project established between the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, 3 Rivers Wet Weather, and a team of partners including CivicMapper, Ecosophic Strategies, and evolveEA.
The Task Force was part of a broader effort to address stormwater issues in PWSA’s priority sewersheds, Woods Run being one of them. In a typical year ALCOSAN’s analysis reveals 47 overflow activations of the Woods Run Outfall for a total of 148 hours of overflow discharge accounting for 96.6 million gallons of overflow.
Woods Run, Living Waters: O-27 Woods Run
The “Green Corridor”
In 2022, the Woods Run Watershed Taskforce, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and the National Park Service partnered to create a blueprint for the Woods Run Green Corridor. This initiative envisions the restoration of ecological habitats on vacant and underutilized land throughout the watershed. By transforming these spaces, the Green Corridor aims to manage stormwater more naturally—keeping excess water out of the overburdened sewer system.
Interactive map:
Woods Run Watershed – From Ohio Riverfront to Riverview Park Interactive Map
Urban Trails
In 2023, the core members of the Woods Run Watershed Task Force came together to adopt a new name: Urban Trails. The change reflects a clearer vision of the projects we’re pursuing—focusing on trails, green infrastructure, and public spaces that connect and enhance our urban environment.
Our first act as Urban Trails was to carry out monthly cleanups in the heart of the Woods Run business district. These cleanups sparked conversations and community involvement. Since 2023 we have removed nearly 40 tons of trash from the Woods Run Watershed.
So How Do We Create a Green Corridor?
Opportunity
By restoring vacant lots to thriving green spaces, the Woods Run corridor won’t just be a thruway, it will be a destination in its own right.
Through this Corridor that celebrates the natural environment and history of the neighborhood, Urban Trails imagines a future where Woods Run could be a climate haven, a reprieve with increased tree canopy, native gardens and clean and safe pedestrian access.
The Corridor represents an opportunity to create a public amenity, sidewalks and bike lanes parallel to bio-swales/ bio retention along the corridor.
Adopt-A-Lot
Urban Trails seeks to adopt vacant lots through the City of Pittsburgh’s Adopt-A-Lot program. We hope to work with groups including, GTECH, Grow Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Penn State Extension, and Tree Pittsburgh, to reforest and rewild roughly 6,500 sq ft of vacant lots. This will boost the ecological health of our environment, cool the neighborhood with increased tree canopy, and act as a green haven for our community.
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