The proposed path for the Sept. 11 National Memorial Trail linking the Panther Valley communities became clearer Thursday night.

The 1,500-mile national trail that connects all three Sept. 11 memorial sites will traverse 903 miles in Pennsylvania, said Andy Hamilton, vice chair of the National Memorial Trail Alliance.

“The Sept. 11 National Memorial Trail has been a vision since five days after the tragedy,” he explained, noting that building the memorials was the first step.

The trail received national, bipartisan recognition for the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, making it one of only a handful of trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, with national legislation, Hamilton said.

“I believe it’s seven trails in the country that have national legislation,” he told those gathered at the Panther Valley Junior/Senior High School. “Your valley, your towns, are part of one of those trails. We’re pleased to bring this opportunity to you.”

This was the second of two meetings on the trail’s proposed Anthracite Connector, a 30-mile segment crossing through Schuylkill and Carbon counties and linking Pottsville to Jim Thorpe, where it connects to the D&L trail.

The first meeting held Wednesday focused on the Schuylkill County portion of the trail which will cross through Pottsville, Palo Alto, Tamaqua and Coaldale, and Thursday’s meeting on Carbon County, specifically the Panther Valley communities of Nesquehoning, Lansford and Summit Hill.

Robert Armstrong, the Philadelphia engineer working on the Anthracite Connector, said the trail would work with large landowners, utilities and transportation entities for the path.

Those include the state Department of Transportation, PPL, Lehigh Anthracite, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad and the Kovatch family as the trail winds from the D&L trail in the Lehigh Gorge to Nesquehoning.

Amstrong believes that there is enough room to create a loop from Jim Thorpe connecting the Panther Valley communities using Reading Blue Mountain and Northern right of way from Jim Thorpe and the D&L trail, he told those gathered.

The trail could connect to the railroad’s Nesquehoning campus, across from the Narrow Valley Sportsplex, he said.

They are also recommending using Allen Street in Nesquehoning, a one-way street that is wide enough for a bike lane in the right of way, Armstrong said.

The former wash shanty along Route 209 near Redner’s is under consideration for a trailhead, a place where people can park and get onto the trail. Armstrong pointed out that they have been in talks with the Kovatch family that owns the brick structure on the grade out of the borough.

The trail would need to cross Route 209 multiple times and use switchbacks to maintain the 5% to 7% grade needed to make the path accessible to everyone from avid hikers to children, seniors and even those in wheelchairs, Armstrong said.

Using the switchbacks maintains the grade and will allow the trail to get to the Panther Valley school complex and then into Andrewsville. Connecting to the schools would open up additional funding needed to build the trail, as it would allow staff and students to bike to school, Armstrong said.

Once in Lansford, the trail would connect and run along Abbott Street with offshoots to Summit Hill through Lehigh Anthracite property and through Lansford’s business district on West Ridge Street to the No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum.

“We would recommend having a spur that goes off with a lot of signage talking about the No. 9 Coal Mine and Museum and how to get there,” Armstrong said.

The No. 9 Coal Mine and the revitalization efforts of the train station in Lansford are drivers in the Anthracite Connector, and telling the story and history of anthracite mining, he said.

Armstrong is recommending the offshoot into Summit Hill use Pine Street, which is a state route, but could accommodate the trail and be easy to maintain for the community, he said.

The spur from Lansford into Summit Hill will connect to the Switchback Trail, which creates a loop back into Jim Thorpe, creating opportunities for people looking for one-day adventure, Armstrong said.

Trail users can bike the loop from Nesquehoning, Lansford, Summit Hill and Jim Thorpe, stop at the No. 9 for a tour and possibly eat lunch in Lansford, or stay overnight accommodations at Melrose Manor at the Sanctuary, the former St. Mike’s complex in Lansford, which is along the proposed trail, Armstrong said.

Ownership of the trail could be done with county trail authorities, he said, and meetings this week with county commissioners in Carbon and Schuylkill counties were positive.

People asked about the timing of the trail, and Armstrong pointed out that this is still in the very early stages of development — this is only the feasibility study, which is the first step.

“We can say with complete confidence that everything that we studied is feasible from an engineering standpoint,” Armstrong said.

Ahead in the development is ownership, which is being looked at with trail authorities, then phasing which could have projects moving in Carbon and Schuylkill at the same time; then funding and grants, right of way acquisition, preliminary engineering, permitting, final design and construction.

The final trail plan will be completed in the coming month and published in January. Hamilton said the alliance plans to get signage out along the trail route for the 25th anniversary the Sept. 11 attacks.