Greensburg is planning a $389,000 project to improve the Five Star Trail, making the popular running and biking destination more accessible to city residents.

“We’re basically trying to improve the connections between the neighborhoods that are adjacent to the Five Star Trail,” said Jeff Richards, Westmoreland County parks planning coordinator and vice president of the Five Star Trail chapter of the Regional Trail Corporation.

The work will be funded with a $324,500 federal smart transportation grant administered through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, with an additional $64,900 paid by the City of Greensburg.

“There were some real needs for the trail,” said city planning director Jeff Raykes.

The trail runs through several Greensburg neighborhoods, but access points can be difficult for the uninitiated to find, Richards said. The grant will pay for new signage, landscaping and paths at several key points along the trail.

Richards said the intersection of Highland Avenue and Mt. Pleasant Street is one crossroads that stymies some potential trail users.

“That intersection is just very confusing, so some of the improvements in the scope of work will be for upgrades to that intersection,” he said.

Workers also will improve drainage in several sections, Raykes said.

“If you’ve ever been on the trail when it’s raining, you’ll see that there’s standing water in places,” he said.

The improvements are scheduled for next summer.

Greensburg was planning a more extensive trail project in 2018, with a network of traffic signals, pedestrian crossings and signs to lead users to the trail.

Officials scaled back the scope to save money, Raykes said.

The Five Star Trail is roughly 7 miles long, stretching from Greensburg to Youngwood. It runs along active tracks used by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Railroad, making it a relatively rare rail-with-trail system, according to Richards. Rail trails, which run along abandoned or defunct railways, are more common.

Greensburg’s renovation project will be used for trail segments within the city.

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