2024 Wiacek Meadows Project: Mission Accomplished!

2024 Treadway Improvements 

It's done! A half-mile of frustrating footing along the Paugussett Trail has been "hardened" in the areas that were mud and roots, and shifted in the areas that had become eroded gullies. This is the stretch between Constitution Blvd and Meadow Street. The task was so large it was broken down into smaller projects, as shown in the map above.  Here's a summary: 

Project A1: Crushed stone over rooty terrain

A1: Crushed stone was wheelbarrowed in from Constitution Blvd for about 600 feet of trail to fill in muddy areas between a lot of tree roots. This involved six work parties in April and several SHS students in need of volunteer hours. (Previous post, and another, and another)

Project A2: One of the new bridges

A2: "The bridges" needed to be constructed so that those wheelbarrows full of gravel could get over some wet spots. The bridges started out as temporary works, but were made permanent in the fall. Mark Vollaro took charge of this task. 

Project B: Eversource work turned this original route into a morass

B: Powerline reroute. Eversource work had created a large mudhole several inches deep across the trail. Rather than builds bridges, the trail was shifted about 50 feet to a spot with more firm terrain. This was done by staff. 

Project C: The trail was shifted closer to the meadow

C: Maybeck Wall reroute: The trail had followed an old old cattle path along the north side of the stone wall that separated the old Maybeck and Wiacek farms.  The trail soon become a gully, with large muddy spots during the wet season. Staff shifted the trail to the south side of the wall and cleared out a couple viewpoints for the upper Wiacek Meadow. (previous post)

Project D: The trail was shifted off of an eroded section

D: Gullied trail: Another 160 feet of trail were shifted due to erosion. Runoff had previously jumped a break in the Maybeck wall and continued down the Paugussett Trail. The wall gap was filled in to stop the flow, and the trail shifted slightly to better ground. This was another staff project, completed in a couple hours. (see previous post)

Project E began with an 85' bogwalk

E: The next 320 feet were soaked during mud season and much of the trail tread was full of roots. There were also a lot of rubble rocks that had been thrown down during a work party in an attempt to address the issue, but which were often difficult to walk on because they were so uneven. This was a fall project and, as luck would have it, there was a "flash drought" that made working conditions here ideal. 

The effort began with the construction of an 85-foot bogwalk along a stretch that didn't have much rock along it. The bogwalk was easier and quicker, but the boards were expensive will eventually need to be replaced. Mark Vollaro and Terry Gallagher got the supplies to the work zone and cut to length, and staff installed the bogwalk over the next few days. (see previous posts here and here)

Project E: Stepping Stones

The rest of the section was slowly improved with regrading for better drainage and installing stepping stones. Several stepping zones were harvested during a Trails Committee work party, but most were already in or near the trail, having been harvested at previous work parties years ago.  Staff then installed most of the stones, with some help from Terry Gallagher. The last stone was dug in the very day that the rains were forecast to begin again. Yay! Mission Accomplished! (see previous posts here and here)

For 2025, this entire stretch will be monitored. It's likely that some new wet spots will need to be addressed, especially in the areas that were rerouted.