Robert Scatterday has a vision that begins in Wheeling and ends in Mount Vernon, Va.

Included in this vision is a bicycle, a rider and a strip of pavement that allows a person to pedal from Wheeling to George Washington's homestead without getting off a dedicated cycling trail.

But progress in Ohio County is putting part of Scatterday's vision into question, as the re-opening of the Tunnel Ridge coal mine on Short Creek Road could lead to the closing of a section of Wheeling's Heritage Trail.

Tunnel Ridge owns the coal loadout area on W.Va. 2 just north of the Pike Island Locks and Dam, and 1,470 feet of the trail system crosses the coal company's property. Tunnel Ridge currently is in the process of renovating the property for its loadout area.

The trail has been shut down several times over the past few months - most recently in June - while construction workers test the integrity of the overhead coal conveyor system and silo located there.

There has been concern among the local cycling community that Tunnel Ridge would choose to close that section of trail permanently. With the posted speed limit on W.Va. 2 at 60 mph, riding on the highway is the last option Scatterday or anyone who travels that section of trail wants to consider.

Instead, Scatterday, manager/project engineer for the city of Wheeling's Rails to Trails system, and Ben Stout, an environmental professor at Wheeling Jesuit University, held a meeting last week with officials from Tunnel Ridge and the state Division of Highways to see if a compromise to keep the trail open could be reached.

Scatterday said the meeting was productive, as Tunnel Ridge officials are receptive to keeping the trail open.

"What we are trying to do is accomplish a couple of goals that will allow everyone to co-exist," he said. "Those goals are the safe operation of the bike trail, the safe operation of the coal company as it integrates with the bike trail, and the continued operation of the bike trail as Tunnel Ridge begins production."

Keither Endicott Jr., Tunnel Ridge's land manager, represented the coal company at the meeting along with Jody Theriot and Lee Landon.

Scatterday said he and Stout are in agreement that the primary goal is for Tunnel Ridge to become operational. The coal company is expected to create 250-300 new jobs for the area.

But he also believes that keeping the bike trail open - and safe - is possible without affecting Tunnel Ridge.

To accomplish this, Scatterday is proposing a plan to place removable covers on the section of trail so that trail-goers will be safe when workers are at the loadout site.

"And we understand that in extreme emergencies they may have to close the trail, but we think those cases will be the exception, not the norm. When that happens, the trail closure would be posted at the dam and other areas of the trail as well as the Heritage Trail Web site," he said.

"We received a very positive response from Tunnel Ridge - they said we're going to be neighbors here for 40 years, and we want to be good neighbors. ... We want the public to know we are working on a solution that's going to allow them to be a good neighbor, and allow the trail to remain open."

A second meeting with Tunnel Ridge officials is scheduled for Friday, he added.

Scatterday said keeping that section of trail open is important in the overall plan of connecting Wheeling with a much larger trail system that extends to Mount Vernon, Va.

"This piece of property here is one small section of a greater plan that's 99 percent complete that says you can get on a bike trail in Wheeling and without getting off you can go all the way to Mount Vernon. This section is key in that total linkage," he said.

"There's also a greater picture here. Our section of trail is only halfway to what's out west. We also want the trail to head across Wheeling Island and connect to trails in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland and become part of that greater system. Again, this makes Wheeling a gateway to the West as it was 200 years ago."