I’m a member of the CROCT Board here in Rice County MN and after witnessing the speed of vehicle traffic on the recently reopened Sechler Road (it’s closed to vehicles during the winter months), we made a quick decision last week to remove the ditch crossing bridge that we installed recently and reroute the trail directly over the creek prior to the gate at the north entrance to the park, keeping riders completely away from the road/pavement.
The creek crossing required a bigger bridge than the one we used for the ditch so the two bridges that a crew of CROCT volunteers fashioned from the wood of the old Mill Towns Trail bridge were put into service:
Last Tuesday, CROCT member John Ebling used his tractor to transport the bridges to the shoulder of Sechler Road near the creek crossings:
On Wednesday, crews of volunteers carried and positioned the bridges over the creeks and carved out a new trail corridor route for the large creek crossing:
Yesterday, another crew of volunteers did the finishing work (rock and gravel ramps) on the approaches to the bridges:
And they added a fun bermed corner that keeps riders away from the old trail segment that crossed the ditch:
As the crew was finishing up that berm, they were rewarded by two very appreciative young mountain bikers riding the trail for the first time:
(Photos by Carl Arnold, Laura Chihara, and yours truly.)