Due to a significant state grant, Allegheny Trails is on track to begin the third phase of a project to open a 1915 train tunnel on the Armstrong Trail in Clarion County.

Chris Ziegler, director of Allegheny Trails, said a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant of more than $2.4 million was recently awarded to the group.

Once the $6 million project is complete, the project will close a gap in the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail, which is a multiuse trail more than 300 miles long.

The latest grant will be used to continue the installation of steel liner in the 2,468-foot-long tunnel's south portal, which can be seen along the trail in East Brady.

Ziegler said the tunnel needs a total of 1,200 feet of steel liner to seal up and support the tunnel and make it safe for cyclists, walkers and runners on the trail.

So far, 126 feet of liner has been installed in the first two phases of the project at the tunnel's north portal on Sarah Furnace Road in Madison Township, Clarion County.

The new grant will allow the installation of 500 to 650 feet of steel liner, this time in the south portal, Ziegler said.

A separate grant awarded to Crawford County will provide $350,000 for steel liner in the tunnel.

Ziegler said Crawford County regularly applies for grants to improve the Armstrong Trail, which runs through that county.

She is hoping to receive two grants she applied for from the state Department of Transportation, which would mean a milestone for the tunnel.

“If we get those grants, we could open the tunnel,” Ziegler said.

She said all permits are in place for work on the tunnel, and all paperwork is approved by DCNR, as required.

“That's the beautiful part of this project,” Ziegler said. “It's about as shovel-ready as it can be.”

Also included in the project's second phase was the replacement of the sluice above the southern portal of the tunnel.

In that project, which was completed in the fall of 2020, engineers created a historically accurate replication of the original sluice.

The old sluice, which carries runoff over the top of the tunnel and into the nearby Allegheny River, could be studied by engineers from Francis J. Palo Inc. of Clarion because it remained suspended above the southern portal in a state of disrepair.

Ziegler hopes to advertise for bids for the most recent liner installation at the end of January or in early February, so construction could begin in May.

“The trail is very popular and extremely busy compared to years past and everyone can't wait for the tunnel to open,” Ziegler said after the sluice was completed.