Mudslides close 4-mile section of Butler Freeport Community Trail
As of Monday, April 15, a 4-mile stretch of the Butler Freeport Community Trail in Buffalo Township is closed to the public due to multiple mudslides that have beset the area. This section extends from Monroe Road to the Laneville Trailhead at the trail’s southeast end.
According to Chris Ziegler, president of the Butler Freeport Community Trail Council, there was one large mudslide and “quite a few” smaller mudslides on a hill that overlooks the now-closed 4-mile section.
This marks the second time in April a portion of the 21-mile trail has been closed by a mudslide due to a deluge of wet weather. The first incident occurred April 2.
Ziegler could not give a firm timetable for when the closed section would reopen.
“It’s hard to say. It’s gotta quit raining,” Ziegler said.
To mitigate the effects of mudslides on the trail in the future, the trail council plans to purchase a series of “riprap” rocks to place along the nearby Little Buffalo Creek. Riprap is a layer of large stones that protects soil from erosion in areas of high or concentrated flows. Ziegler said the rocks will cost roughly $20,000.
“It’ll stabilize the stream bank so landslides can’t really do anything about it, because everything comes downhill,” Ziegler said. “We’re more concerned about the water going over the edge of the trail into the creek, because that’ll cause erosion.”
The remainder of the trail still is open to the public. A parking lot at the Marwood Trailhead will be closed Tuesday, April 16, for renovation through a grant the trail council recently received from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Ziegler urges interested parties to stay tuned to the Butler Freeport Community Trail Facebook group for her updates on the status of the trail and any additional issues that arise.
