Monday, August 03, 2009

Schuylkill Slop

Yesterday's storms caused some serious damage on the Schuylkill River Trail. BCGP Volunteer Mike Szilagyi documented the damage today:

After yesterday's 4+ inches of rain, parts of the Schuylkill River Trail are barely passible due to flood debris. It wasn't river water that did the damage, but runoff from the steep slopes adjacent. I pedalled in from Norristown this morning and found three spots where the trail is almost blocked:

  • South of Spring Mill in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County. Mud and stones up to a foot deep.
  • North of Port Royal Avenue in the City of Philadephia. Mud and stones up to two feet deep. Photo:
  • Between Manayunk and Flat Rock Dam in the City of Philadelphia. Fist-size stones litter one stretch of the trail.

Hopefully Montgomery County and Fairmount Park will clear the trails soon.

















7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are some of the arguments the neighbors are making?

Anonymous said...

So why doesn't BCGP volunteer Mike Szilagyi get out there with a shovel and clean it up? And isn't Fairmount Park Commission toast? So you're gonna wait for Philly Parks and Rec? Get real!

I'll be working on the section west of Port Royal Avenue late tomorrow afternoon. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BlueMingo said...

Tuesday 8/4 - Does anyone have an update on the status of the path ? I'm not going to be able to take my shovel down to problem areas until Wednesday afternoon (8/5). I'm assuming that if none of the people who ride regularly take care of this kind of problem, that the mud will just stay there until the next rain.

Unknown said...

The debris field inside the City of Philadelphia has been cleared by heavy equipment. Looks like the machines came in from the Whitemarsh side (Montgomery County).

I along with Steve spent a couple hours scraping a half inch thick mud slick off the pavement. Steve also took a machete to encroaching vegetation. 90% of the cyclists passing through our work area were very vocal in their appreciation and that meant a lot.

Mike Sz.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday, 8/4 – the SRT trailhead at Port Royal Avenue has been 95% cleaned up – the gravel was moved to enlarge the adjacent parking area. The ramp from Port Royal to Nixon is damaged, and has been reported to Operation Smooth Streets.

Most passing cyclists were appreciative, but none stopped to help out like they did several weeks ago. Many also mentioned the two guys working at the water falls (Mike and Steve?) in a very positive way. Also, once into Montgomery County, they reported the SRT had been cleaned up.

Several cyclists reported a large tree down on the canal path. Can the Coalition contact Parks/Rec/FPC?

BlueMingo said...

Thanks !!! to Mike and Steve !!!

Anonymous said...

Aug. 16, 2009 – within the last week, a neighborhood volunteer, using his mini-backhoe, did a massive cleanup at the waterfall near the Montco border. Unfortunately, we couldn’t clear out the drain pipe that is underneath the SRT. At the Shawmont end of the Manayunk Canal Path, he also moved a lot of washed out gravel from the bottom of the cobblestones to fill in the low spots in the parking area at the old water pumping building. Other volunteers cleaned up the trailhead of the SRT at Port Royal Avenue (again) and cut back brush on the upper side of Nixon Street at the Port Royal end of Shawmont. The street is now 2-3 feet wider. If only the Philadelphia Streets Department could fix the damaged street at Nixon & Port Royal and Parks & Recreation/Fairmount Park could fix the bumps nearby on the SRT as quickly and efficiently as these volunteers. Both of those dangers have been marked by orange paint – by volunteers of course.