Pennsylvania American Water cuts ribbon on reopened Alameda Park trail
BUTLER TWP — After a five-month hiatus caused by a wastewater improvement project, Alameda Park’s main trail is once again open to hikers, bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Pennsylvania American Water — which spearheaded the project — held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, May 12, to mark the trail’s reopening.
“It’s very important for the community to have this open,” said Lance Welliver, director of Butler County Parks & Recreation.
“I just enjoy the collaborative process and relationship, working relationship, that we have with Pa. American Water,” said county Commissioner Kim Geyer. “We thank you for what you do here in Butler County. We’re all benefactors of that generosity and investment and just want to say thank you for making our park to be a better place.”
Work on the wastewater improvement project began in December 2025, with Pennsylvania American Water looking to replace outdated wastewater infrastructure and increase flow capacity to suit the needs of a fast-developing area.
“We immediately recognized that this part of the system is hydraulically deficient,” said project engineer Walter Jenko. “We realized that the pipe needs to be bigger and needs to have additional flow capacity.”
According to external affairs manager Lauren Camarda, Pennsylvania American has spent $2 million on the project so far, installing 3,300 feet of new wastewater main and 26 new maintenance hole access points.
“It was an aging pipe,” Camarda said. “It was upgrading something that had reached the end of its useful life and increasing the capacity to meet the needs of the community.”
According to Gary Lobaugh, Pennsylvania American’s director of government and external affairs, the wastewater improvement project offers benefits to the park, specifically, its adjacent waterways.
“This project is also helping to safeguard Sullivan Run and help ensure cleaner local watersheds by keeping that overflow out of it,” Lobaugh said. “Today is about much more than reopening a bike trail. It’s about much more resilient wastewater systems and cleaner watersheds.”
“This line had an overflow in the past. That means that raw sewage spilled out into the stream. That is not allowed under state environmental regulations,” Camarda said. “This solves that issue and makes sure that that doesn’t happen.”
The actual wastewater improvement project is not quite finished, according to Camarda.
“We have a little part on the other side of Route 422 to finish,” Camarda said.
In addition to hosting the ribbon cutting, Pennsylvania American Water made a $25,000 contribution to Butler County Parks & Recreation.
“(We’re) grateful that they’re kind enough to do that,” Welliver said. “The work they’ve done is fantastic. The contribution of $25,000 is very beneficial to put back into the park facilities.”
For Alameda Park, the trail reopening comes just in time, as the trail is scheduled to host a “Back The Blue 5K” on Sunday, May 17.
