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Organizers hope that a parade of bicycles from Downtown will help celebrate the official opening of a flyover ramp connecting Route 837 to Duquesne's RIDC industrial park.

The event, slated for 10 a.m. Oct. 2, will mark an important milestone in the life of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works.

But the flyover ramp's construction also removes another obstacle to completion of the Great Allegheny Passage hiking and biking trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., said members of the McKeesport Trail Commission and the Allegheny Trail Alliance.

ATA President Linda McKenna Boxx said that by this time next year the trail will be "knocking on Sandcastle's door" in West Homestead.

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Other improvements will soon be evident to cyclists, including a new trail alignment between the 15th Avenue Bridge and Downtown.

Construction work currently underway will move the trail to Market Street and away from the site of a planned regional courthouse and public-safety building along Walnut Street, said Bob MacGregor, treasurer of the city Trail Commission.

Paving the new alignment is to be complete by Oct. 31, with signs and bike racks to be installed by Dec. 7, he said.

In addition, the city is constructing a new trail from the McKees Point Marina to the edge of the Monongahela River.

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The new "McKees Point Trail," which will connect with the Great Allegheny Passage near the Jerome Avenue Bridge, will provide McKeesporters with access to an area of shoreline that's been off-limits to the public since the early 1960s.

That work is also to be completed by Dec. 7, MacGregor said.

At a meeting Wednesday night, Boxx cautioned the Trail Commission to get ready for an influx of bicyclists eager to try out the new sections of trail.

"Even if it's only a mile or two, it's so important that the signs are up and the trail-blazing markers are in place," she said. "There will be a crush of people (starting) in October, and we need to make sure the connection is smart and safe."

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Several gaps between the city and Pittsburgh have been a source of frustration for bicyclists trying to make a complete trip on the Great Allegheny Passage.

Completing the journey through the Mon Valley to the Golden Triangle requires using congested and busy surface roads or loading the bike onto a Port Authority bus.

Two bridges must be constructed across Norfolk Southern's railroad tracks on the west shore of the Monongahela, Boxx says, but money has been allocated for those projects.

Along with the county's acquisition last year of the former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge at Riverton, the Duquesne section of the trail will move the Passage's final leg one step closer to reality.

"To have found this route from McKeesport to Sandcastle is nothing short of a miracle," Boxx says.

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However, the route through Downtown between Water and Locust streets remains a bit of a kludge.

The trail was originally going to traverse Fifth Avenue until concerns were raised about making cyclists cross Lysle Boulevard.

Another proposal would have taken the trail up Fourth Avenue, behind the public-safety building.

But according to commission members, city officials were worried about mixing out-of-town bicyclists with police and fire activity.

For now, cyclists will be directed to walk their bikes on the sidewalk along Lysle Boulevard between Gibson Way and Locust Street.

City public works crews have already painted bike markings on the sidewalk.

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Also yet to be determined is the mix of facilities at the trail head on Water Street.

There is no public restroom or information kiosk, and although the marina operates the McKees Cafe restaurant on the first floor of the Palisades ballroom, it closes at 4 p.m. on weekdays.

"The success of McKees Cafe is critical," MacGregor said. "If McKees Cafe is not open, there will be no services directly along the trail" in the city.

The Trail Commission holds its final meeting of the year Oct. 28.