Paugussett Work Party Thoreau Drive

Terry Gallagher and crew install the second fence

The Trails Committee and volunteers worked on the Paugussett Trail north of Thoreau Drive where the trail slips through a twenty-foot-wide open space corridor between houses. The trail was shifted earlier this year after we had the property surveyed and discovered part of the trail was on private property.

Mark Vollaro and Jim Taradine work on the first section of fencing

 After the subdivision was constructed, no one really knew exactly where the open space boundaries were located. Trail managers took a guess and neighbors just mowed whatever the developer had cleared. Once the property line was established, we were able to move the trail to the best location based on the topography. This lead to neighbor concerns that hikers might leave the trail, so a fence needed to be installed in two locations.

John Giliotti attack some rock in the treadway

The new trail tread was also uneven, so volunteers worked at hacking out some ledge and leveling things off.  

Mark Vollaro, Jim Taradine, Luis Isaza, and Val Gosset work on the 2nd fence

Two fences were installed, one with two sections and the other with four sections. Hikers should feel more comfortable in knowing the location of boundaries of the public property on which they walk.

The new fence helps delineate the trail

The opposite side of the twenty-foot open space corridor was previously delineated with some new plantings, allowing room for the new shrubs and trees to grow. It's hoped that the corridor will re-vegetate over the next several years, providing a better hiking experience.  

Paugussett Trail Manager Terry Gallagher is happy with how everything turned out