CRANBERRY TWP — After more than a year of research, Cranberry Township staff unveiled the results of a greenways study that lays the groundwork for expanding parks, recreation and transportation connections across the community.

The purpose of the study — which was conducted by the township’s planning and development services in consultation with engineering firm Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc. and the Environmental Advisory Committee — was to begin developing a long-term vision for linking nearly 3,000 acres through a connected network of trails, parks and natural corridors.

“You don’t realize that you have all these intermittent green spaces and 3,000 acres that have been preserved already,” township manager Dan Santoro said. “When you start looking at it, there’s some really interesting opportunities to connect them throughout the township.”

Liam Darr, township planning specialist, and Lori Morgan, engineering firm senior planner, gave a broad overview of the study during a supervisors meeting Thursday, June 5.

Morgan defined greenways as undeveloped corridors near urban and suburban developments that are designated for both public recreation and ecological preservation.

Additionally, she noted that there are significant economic benefits to finding and evaluating what is possible for those open spaces.

“You’re connecting economic opportunities and bringing people to new areas by creating physical connections,” she said.

Through a process of data collection and spatial analysis, officials developed a Conceptual Greenways Network that laid out three primary greenways: Brush Creek, Coal Run and North Boundary.

The Brush Creek Greenway runs across some of the existing open land throughout the township, while the Coal Run Greenway jets through more commercial corridors and major highways like Route 19 and Route 228. Finally, the North Boundary Greenway runs “primarily along the existing Penn Power easement,” according to Morgan.

All three of the greenways would allow the township to connect land into Jackson Township in the north and Allegheny County’s Marshall Township in the south.

There are also specific types of greenways that could be developed, with the most basic being an organic connection, which would be as simple as a mowed pedestrian pathway that would cause minimal disruption to other surrounding areas.

Another is an on-road connection, which would establish a lane in the road for pedestrians and cyclists. It could be used in places where there may not be room for a sidewalk, Morgan said.

Where there is more open space to work with, she noted that a shared use path, which is essentially a paved trail, would work.

The study recommends that the best way for the township to guide the development of the greenways is to establish a nonprofit organization or subcommittee that “facilitates land acquisition, holds future land easements, pursues external funding and advances grant applications.”

Santoro said it’s likely that the township is looking at a 10- to 15-year project that would require a number of steps.

He said one of those steps would take place next month when supervisors could be asked to formally adopt the study through a resolution. However, he said the study’s results are a good starting point in that process.

“The ability to get outside and the ability to connect different neighborhoods is so important to the quality of life in any community,” he said. “So we’re providing those opportunities and figuring out ways that we can make them a reality so that neighbors can walk to the park, to the schools, to the municipal center — those are real tangible benefits from a recreational amenity perspective in the township.”