Monthly Cleanups
Every third Saturday of the month URBAN TRAILS hosts a neighborhood cleanup in the heart of our business district, at Lecky Ave and Brighton Rd. The cleanups give us an opportunity to talk directly to community members about the green corridor and other water related issues while also helping to clean up the neighborhood. Many of our volunteers are coming from other parts of the city and have otherwise never visited Marshall-Shadeland. Most importantly, the cleanups are a consistent way for URBAN TRAILS to meet members of the community.
Monthly Updates
3.16.24
Trying to get back into the swing of things after getting derailed by life and weather we had a 3 person cleanup this month. 6 bags of trash, 1 TV, and 2 5 gallon buckets of paint. Woods Run Ave is much cleaner at the end of the day!
1.27.24
We had a small group due to being a week late because of fun winter weather. This weekend the weather cleared and with a small crew we managed 9 bags of trash as well as a good bit of construction debri from Lecky Ave, Woods Run, and McClure Ave.
Nov 18th 2023
While we only had a few volunteers we certainly punched above our weight this month. We cleaned up a dump site and cleaned up the business district in only a few hours. We collected 8 tvs, at least 30 bags of trash , 15 tires and several mirrors.
The most interesting thing about this cleaned up is while waiting for public works to pick up our pile magically grew in size in 3 days. At least a dozen more tires, mounds of trash bags, as well as yard debri and construction waste.
9.23.23
Urban trails cleanup!
We had a great turnout this month with 18 volunteers from the community and far beyond. We managed to tackle a dump site in the lower end of the community and clean up the business district, Lecky ave, as well as Woods Run Ave.
30 bags of trash, 16 tires, tons of construction debri, and plenty of tv’s.
6.17.23
Urban trails clean up!
Back for another month of cleaning up in the Marshall-Shadeland Brighton Rd business district. With only 3 volunteers we stuck to the street and sidewalk and collected about 4 bags of trash. Not our biggest haul ever bit every little bit moves us in the right direction
5.27.2
Urban Trails cleanup with 412 redder uppers for litter league!
Urban trails teamed up with the fineview 412 Redder Uppers for a very successful clean up! In only a few hours we managed to collect 48 tires, 16 bags of trash, dozens of tvs and computers and a big collection of scrap metal. We even found an old pond in the mix.
5.22.23
On May 22nd members of URBAN TRAILS attended a planning meeting at the Valley Refuge shelter in Riverview Park. The event was hosted by the Friends of Riverview Park and The Pittsburgh Parks Concervancy to discuss the revitalization of the Grand Ave Entrance to Riverview Park in the neighborhood of Marshall Shadeland. This was a continuation of a process that began in 2020 prior to the covid 19 pandemic and at this meeting we walked the area and discussed different ideas for moving forward.
Our members first and foremost advocated for the total removal of all of the existing DPW buildings and trash sites as well as focusing on ecological restoration of the park. Our position was that the best use of city resources was to address stormwater run off and passive uses of green space. Other attendees raised concerns about traffic issues as well as public safety concerns with increased use of the lower end of the park. We look forward to future meetings to evaluate design ideas further.
5. 8. 23
URBAN TRAILS members, Matt Gatto and Paul Laure are teaming up with the 412 Redder Uppers to compete in the 2023 Litter League, organized by Allegheny CleanWays.
On Monday, May 8, 2023 the team met to remediate one of two large-scale illegal dumping sites located along Suffolk Street, which straddles the border between Fineview and Perry South. A small group collected an estimated 4,000 pounds of illegally-dumped tires, televisions, building materials, furniture, and general litter in the span of about 75 minutes.
4.25.23
URBAN TRAILS is teaming up with The 412 Redder Upper from fineview to compete in the 2023 Litter League. Today a 5 person crew cleaned up a few thousand pounds of litter and debris from Divinity Street in the Northside
4.22.23
URBAN TRAILS earth day clean up was a big success regardless of the rain and the fact there were only three people total. We worked through the rain and managed to remove over 1500 lbs of tires, tvs, litter, and construction debri from Mannheim st in lower Marshall Shadeland. This cleanup was further proof that just a few people can make a big difference.
4.15.23
URBAN TRAILS cleanup this month had only 5 volunteers but what a group!! 37 tires, 18 tvs, and 5 bags of trash removed from the neighborhood… every little bit helps keep the water cleaner, the animals happier, and community spirt a little higher!
URBAN TRAILS 