JEFFERSONVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – The washed out Lamoille Valley Rail Trail got a Green Up Day tune up.
Last summer, just days before its official opening, floods wiped out several sections of the trail.
“It was just really sad to see how much had to be repaired after we were so close to having the full thing open,” Lisa Towery of Waterville recalled. After a winter of repairs, most sections of the 93-mile trail are open, though flood debris remains. Towery and other locals came to green up the Jeffersonville stretch of the trail. “It’s great to give a little bit back for something we love to use,” Towery said.
Northern Forest Canoe Trail and several other local organizations partnered with Green Up Vermont to tidy up the hardest hit of the trail. Clean-up crews descended on Hyde Park, Morrisville, Wolcott, Johnson, Hardwick and Jeffersonville. Cambridge Area Rotary Club led the effort in Jeffersonville, picking up discarded trash from Route 15 and flood remnants along the Lamoille River.
Volunteer Peter Ingvoldstad discovered a terrain of tires. “Mother nature made a mess,” he said, pointing to the rubble. “It was sad but we’re Vermonters for criminy’s sake! Just build things back again, you know, hopefully smarter.” Ingvoldstad says washed out sections of Jeffersonville’s bit of trail and Cambridge Junction Bridge should be fully patched up in the coming months.
Volunteers hauled out dozens of bags of trash. “It’s fun to help the earth!” said Cambridge’s Luke Ducharm. “That way, it can stay clean and more people can stay healthy.” Rotary member Michael Bessler surveyed the tidied trail. “It looks beautiful and we’re going to carry on that tradition.”
