Update on West 11th Street Park

Successful Completion of Planned Projects in 2016

by Lorraine Cherry, Friends of West 11th Street Park

Friends of West 11th Street Park has an ongoing project aimed at providing a trail that allows visitors to walk the park 365 days a year. The trail is constructed with compressed decomposed granite over a geo-textile fabric base (for weed prevention). Culverts are laid at low areas to prevent water from ponding on the trail.

Many thanks to the Timbergrove Manor Civic Club, the Timbergrove Manor Neighborhood Association, and numerous park users who donated funds in 2016 to repair the existing 1/2-mile inner loop trail and perform routine maintenance to check the growth of ground cover and spray for poison ivy on the edges of the trail.

What’s next?

Visitors to the park commonly use the trail near the kiosk on Shelterwood to enter the park and access the inner loop trail. This access trail is still unimproved and floods badly after a heavy rain. So, even though the loop trail can be used 365 days a year, you can’t get to it after a heavy rain without wading through a small swamp.

In 2017, we want to finish this trail with compressed decomposed granite and bring it out to the edge of the woods. This will raise the trail to keep it dry, providing easy-to-use access to the inner loop trail.

The latest bid we have received to do this work is just over $5,000. So, we have a busy time ahead of us right now to raise the money to complete this project.

As with all of our work done in the park, this project depends on donations from park users like you to move forward.

If you love West 11th Street Park, if you enjoy being able to walk in the woods every day or every week or even every month regardless of weather, won’t you donate to this important project?

You can donate online at www.wirelesswilderness.org or, donations can be sent to Friends of West 11th Street Park, P.O. Box 7679, 77270-7679.