Great Allegheny Passage | 'From the beginning': 9/11 memorial trail built on GAP's foundation

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – David Brickley conceived of a trail connecting the three Sept. 11, 2001, attack sites days after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 forced another hijacked jet to crash short of its target.

Brickley, the founder and president emeritus of the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, said he could see on a map that the sites made a nearly perfect triangle – the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville.

With his background in conservation and outdoor recreation, he was familiar with the C&O Canal towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage.

"The (GAP and C&O pathways) were just integral parts," Brickley said. "I could see it from the beginning."

Since the C&O towpath runs from Washington, D.C., to meet the GAP in Cumberland, Maryland – and the GAP passes through Garrett and other Somerset County towns on its way from Cumberland to Pittsburgh – using the existing infrastructure made sense, he said.

"It really was a tremendous asset, and it really has worked out so well for us," Brickley said. "If we had to build the 9/11 trail from the start, it'd be multiple generations before we even got close to getting it done."

According to the Sept. 11 trail map, the section between Washington and Garrett features the largest use of existing trails throughout the entire proposed 1,500-mile route. That's because of the GAP and the C&O towpath.

Brickley said about a third of the total trail network could be mapped out because of those two existing trails. There are other areas where trails are implemented, but a majority of the route follows roadways.

Jeffrey McCauley, September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance president, said the GAP and C&O are foundational components of the 9/11 trail's routes, and using those paths is important for continued development of the trail.

The alliance is working with Somerset County to continue a connection from Garrett to Berlin, where another piece will link with Flight 93 National Memorial – which just installed bike lanes and signage for the memorial trail.

McCauley said that, with the continued growth of the 9/11 path, he could see the already tremendous usage of the GAP as benefiting the overall expansion and as a boon to trail-town economics.

"Every survey that we've seen since I was working for (Virginia) so many years ago shows that people want passive outdoor recreation as much as possible," Brickley said. "They want and they love trails and greenways. Our biggest problem sometimes is overuse."