The 8-mile extension of the Ghost Town rail trail loop will be nicknamed “Stritty’s Way” in honor of the late Thomas Strittmatter.
He worked for the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority and played a big role in planning the trail. The Strittmatter family attended the event Friday.
“It’s a fitting honor for my father. He was a low-key guy. Having his name on a sign in the woods is an honor he would come to accept if he were still with us,” said Jeff Strittmatter, Thomas Strittmatter’s son.
Clifford Kitner’s son, Carson, will also be honored. Carson died when he was just two-months-old. A bridge along the Ghost Town Trail extension will be named “Carson’s Crossing” in his honor.
“We wanted to put his memory, let his memory live on too with something that we’re both passionate about,” said Clifford Kitner, the executive director of the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority.
The 8-mile extension is part of a $1.2 million PennDOT Transportation Alternatives Program grant and should be complete by the fall. After that, there are still another 7.5 miles left to complete the trail loop.
“The goal is to continue to write grants and do a couple miles at a time. If we can do 2-3 miles a year, that’s 6 miles in 2 years and 9 miles in 3 years. We have 7.5 miles to go,” Kitner said.
The Ghost Town rail trail loop will eventually connect the Rexis branch of the trail to White Mill Crossing in Indiana County, past Belsano Crossing to North Street in Cardiff, Cambria County. When the trail is complete, it will be the only continuous rail trail loop in the country.