As the Allegheny River Development Corp. prepares to head to the nation’s capital to lobby for money to keep locks open along the river, they’re looking for as much support as they can get.

The ARDC, a grassroots organization based in Armstrong County, works with the Army Corps of Engineers to keep four locks between South Buffalo and Madison Township, all in Armstrong County, open for recreational boaters and channel navigation. ARDC provides money to pay the Corps to operate the locks on weekends because cuts in federal funding for the Corps leaves it unable to staff with locks without outside help.

“Our whole goal is to keep the locks open and navigation channels open for recreational boaters and all boaters,” said ARDC president Mike Ferris.

It costs the ARDC about $200,000 each year to operate, Ferris said. The ARDC receives some grant funding from the state, and the Armstrong County commissioners have donated $15,000 to the organization in previous years. The organization receives no federal money, so most of its money comes from fundraising.

To bolster its cause, ARDC is asking local communities to signal their support for keeping the locks open.

Lower Burrell Council approved a resolution last week supporting ARDC’s goals. Doing so, Ferris said, helps ARDC in its quest for federal funding, even though the city didn’t offer any money.

“If you have these resolutions saying these municipalities are backing you, I think the politicians pay a little more attention,” Ferris said.

To Ferris’ knowledge, Lower Burrell is the first community to adopt a resolution supporting the ARDC’s efforts.

If they didn’t do it, there would be no recreational boating, and we wouldn’t be able to go through a lock,” Lower Burrell Councilman David Stoltz said. “They would only allow commercial traffic and that’s it. I feel it’s a good thing to support (ARDC).”

Locks in Natrona and Freeport are open to commercial barge traffic from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, said James Burford, lockmaster for locks 4 through 9.

Locks in Highland Park and Harmar are open for barges from 6 a.m. to midnight daily. Locks 6, 7, 8 and 9, located in South Buffalo, West Kittanning, Boggs and Madison Township, are open by appointment only.

Barge traffic determines the level of service at locks, Burford said. “Going above Schenley, there just isn’t any industry that uses barges,” he said.

ARDC also partially funds locks near Freeport and in Harrison.

The lock schedule for this summer can be found on the ARDC’s website.

In the future, the ARDC anticipates needing to help pay to keep Lock 3 in Harmar and Lock 2 in Highland Park open to recreational boaters because of decreased commercial river traffic. Ferris highlighted the closure of the former power plant in Springdale as an example. With coal no longer being delivered there via barges and, using the Army Corps of Engineers’ current metrics, Ferris fears lock service would decrease at those locations as well.

Burford said he is not aware of plans to alter service hours at those locks.

The Corps does not consider recreational boating when determining the level of service at its locks. Ferris would love for that to change.

“Recreational traffic on the Allegheny River brings commerce to every community located on the river,” Ferris said.

There’s no shortage of recreational boaters here.

Allegheny County has the most boat registrations by county statewide, according to data from the Fish and Boat Commission. Westmoreland ranks eighth and Armstrong ranks 30th out of 67 counties.

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. in East Deer could bring increased river traffic in the Allegheny Valley, Ferris said. Pittsburgh Brewing has long range plans for an amphitheater and possibly a marina at its facility.

ARDC representatives and another organization — Save the Allegheny River, an environmental advocacy group seeking to improve and maintain the viability of the river and its economic benefits — are hoping to convince federal lawmakers to boost Corps funding with their upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.

A date for the trip has not been set.

Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com.