The Bridges of Gale River Road

[MichaelJ]

Well, Gale River Road, Haystack Road, and Zealand Road all [were scheduled to be closed today, though didn't]. However, I took a ride yesterday to check out the bridge projects on Gale River Road, given a previous discussion about winter access to Garfield. I only had time to go where I could drive, so here's a look at the status of the work on the southernmost (closest to the Garfield trailhead) replacement.

Clearly there's still a lot yet to be done, including the fact the concrete sections you see there are backwards. With the ground freezing, they'll be able to bring in heavier equipment (and a deck for the bridge), but working the site, or casting any concrete, will become much more difficult.

 

[BIGEarl]

Fancy! The flow here looks like it wouldn't be difficult to find a crossing nearby. I hope that's the case.

Thanks for posting.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Got the following in an e-mail from Hiker Ed:

Hi to All

On Monday, I stopped and talked with the crew that is repairing the
two blown out bridges on Gale River Road.

In the nutshell. The bridges will not be finished, and back in use,
until late spring or early summer.

BUT,

The crew expects to have the decking on the bridges before the
beginning of winter. They said one is already done.

BOTTOM LINE: And good news!!!!!

The bridges will be available for foot travel this coming winter.

TAKE CARE

ED

HTH,
Tim

 

[Bill and Sheep]

Does anyone have an update on this? Are the footbeds really in place now? If not, what's the best way to tackle Garfield at this point in the season?

 

[carla]

Ditto, I would love to know this re Garfield

Is it possible to ski up the road and then ski on the Garf trail until right below the last steep pitch?

Does anyone have an update on this? Are the footbeds really in place now? If not, what's the best way to tackle Garfield at this point in the season?

 

[BIGEarl]

As of 12/29/2010:

Starting from the end of Gale River Road (west junction on Route 3)....

The road is plowed from Route 3 to the first bridge.

Bridge #1 is still out but a wide beam spans the stream and is easy to walk across.

Bridges #2 & #3 have their decks in place and are suitable for foot traffic.

We used this approach 12/29/2010 and had no trouble at all.

The closest parking we found that would not interfere with the bridge construction work was at Five Corners on the end of Trudeau Road, just beyong the snowmobile trail crossing. It is plowed wide in that area.

 

[MichaelJ]

Thanks, Earl.

As of 1/1 there's a huge sign at west Gale River Road saying no hiker parking, to use Beaver Brook. Of course Trudeau Road seems fine to me, and is a heck of a lot closer.

 

[BIGEarl]

Thanks, Earl.

As of 1/1 there's a huge sign at west Gale River Road saying no hiker parking, to use Beaver Brook. Of course Trudeau Road seems fine to me, and is a heck of a lot closer.

I know. The sign was up when we hiked on Wednesday. There was a large bucket loader there on Wednesday and some other materials were brought in on Thursday.

I would imagine if somebody parked in there and their vehicle was in the way, that bucket loader wouldn't break a sweat moving it.

There are lots of people that are comfortable ignoring such signs but in this case the consequences might be annoying.

 

[MichaelJ]

Yeah, for example it's probably safe to park there anyway on the weekend, but you never know, especially as the season goes on and they have to finish work by the softening spring conditions, that they might work 6 or 7 days...

 

[BIGEarl]

On Thursday when Sue and I drove through in the morning, Ed Hawkins had parked his truck at the end of Trudeau Road, generally in the same place that I used.

Later that afternoon on our way back I pulled onto Trudeau Road and Ed's truck was still there without any notes, tickets, or visible bullet holes.

As long as there are not difficult road conditions it's probably okay. I'm not aware of any parking restrictions there and I've parked there more than once.

 

[MichaelJ]

Yeah, for example it's probably safe to park there anyway on the weekend, but you never know, especially as the season goes on and they have to finish work by the softening spring conditions, that they might work 6 or 7 days...

I have it on quasi-reputable authority that they were in fact out there working and moving equipment around in the west Gale River Road lot on Sunday 1/2, so yeah, just stay out of there.