The opening of the Beaver Dam Walking Trail will be delayed because of storm damage until at least late spring, Hillsville Town Manager Travis Jackson told town council during its meeting on April 8.
Jackson, Mayor Greg Crowder, Councilman David Young and others viewed the damage during a visit to the trail prior to the council meeting. They found that recent storms have downed trees and washed out the trail.
“We’re moving forward on trying to get the trail opened, at least part of it,” said Jackson. “Trustees will help with the cleanup and town employees are working on the bridges; one bridge suffered considerable damage. I would ask citizens not to go down there just yet.”
“It’s completely devastated,” said Crowder of the trail. “There are hundreds of feet of the trail that have been washed away. Two bridges have washed out and another one is bent and twisted.”
Crowder added that the planned repairs to the trail will hopefully prevent such damage in the future.
“We’re going to raise the bridges higher so they won’t be washed away again, and we’re going to replace the mulch with aggregate,” he said.
The cost to repair the damage for the town will be nil, noted Crowder, who thanked Don Branscome for donating the use of his heavy equipment for the repairs.
It is hoped that least a part of the trail will be open by May, but it may take longer for the entire trail to be made safe for citizens.
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