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.

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