Upgrading woodland trails in a populated urban area is more than just a walk in the park.

After raising a half million dollars in donations and securing $3 million in federal grants, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy last week broke ground on a trail and sign improvement project designed to improve the trail system in the city's parks.

Improvements are scheduled to begin this fall on trails in lower Frick Park. Before spring, construction crews are expected to upgrade sites at the north end of Highland Park, and on Riverview Park's Bob Harvey and Mairdale trails. In spring of 2010, restoration will begin on Roosevelt-era bridges in the Panther Hollow portion of Schenley Park. About 100 new signs will be installed in the four parks to mark trails and provide information about park history, wildlife and restoration projects.

"The trails in all of our regional parks need upgrading and re-engineering, but we are not reorienting the trails," said Phil Gruszka, Parks Conservancy director of parks maintenance. "When the parks were being developed, the urban environment was significantly different than today. As we incurred more impervious surface in the watershed around our urban parks, much of the storm water was diverted into the park system. Because of this increase in storm water in the parks, we've incurred more erosion, especially on our trails."

Gruszka said the goal of the project is to re-engineer trails to conform to the current condition of the watershed without redirecting the trails.

The entire project should take 10 months to complete. Gruszka said when the upgrades are finished the Parks Conservancy will pay "increased attention" to the restructured landscapes. The trail improvements will be monitored for degradation, he said, and "urban eco-stewards" will be assigned to provide routine maintenance.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that restores city park amenities.

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