Shenandoah National Park Begins Construction
October 25, 2009 – 4:37 pm | by wisnuaji
The Shenandoah National Park is seeing some changes around the overlooks and Skyline Drive, and it’s not just the recent snowfall.
The park was awarded $30 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Park officials say a specific program helped them receive that amount.
Shenandoah National Park has a pavement management program, and while not all of the money is being used for repaving, it’s where the park’s first million is heading.
Looking at the cracks in the pavement, Karen Beck-Herzog says Shenandoah National Park’s repaving project is definitely due.
“And so what we’re going to be able to do is extend the life of these very important resources,” says Beck-Herzog.
So while roads, parking areas and trail heads are getting a face-lift, some closures will occur.
“We do know that there is going to be an effect to visitors. But we are going to try to minimize that as much as possible,” says Beck-Herzog.
Christopher Fox comes from Washington, D.C. to visit the park every couple of weeks and says he’s okay with a small inconvenience.
“I mean if you have other areas accessible to park, you can still get to it. But it’s worth it. Fix it up, get it looking good, and then we can come right back out and have some more fun,” says Fox.
Even when they were just getting started with the construction, the crews are already dealing with weather.
“And in this case, while it’s not typical because it’s snow, we do expect that there would be rain. So it wouldn’t necessarily be a rain delay, it might just be a day or two where no work is done,” says Beck-Herzog.
Even though construction crews are now having to focus on cleaning up tree debris caused by the snow, Beck-Herzog says guests coming to look at fall foliage are getting a little extra.
“And I think it’s an awesome juxtaposition to see the fall foliage, which everyone expects, but at the same exact time is this brilliant reds and yellows that are showing, to see the snow,” says Beck-Herzog.
The park has until September 2010 to obligate the $30 million to specific projects.
The majority of the additional projects will be paving projects, but the park will also paint administrative buildings and remove hazardous trees for safety.
Taken from:
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/64816012.html
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