Attention Richmond Area riders:
As of 8:00pm this evening James River Park has ordered the section of
Buttermilk Heights from the 43rd St Trail Junction west to the next drop in
from Riverside Drive closed. There has been a huge land slide that has taken
about 10 feet of trail. Consequently it has also weakened another 20 feet of
trail on either side that I fully expect to slide as well with the next
rain. This is simply a matter of injury or death for anyone that does not
pay attention and ends up sliding 100 plus feet down to the creek bottom
ending in the jumble of mud, boulders and trees.
Expect this section to stay closed at least two weeks as we are still
evaluating the best way to reroute the trail. Also expect more closures if
JRPS or MORE find more areas that are dangerous.
Buttermilk East is a disaster area and is not navigable by bike. Please stay
off the trails until after we have had a chance to repair some of the
damages. Much of the topsoil has been blasted away and there are many
erosion problems that we didn't have before. The remainder of Buttermilk
Heights, Buttermilk West and the Po'Butter Loop have not been checked at
this time and may be equally dangerous. No word on Forest Hill or Powhite
conditions yet.
The first emergency work day is this saturday at 9:00 am at the Reedy Creek
parking lot. Please do not take it upon yourselves to start clearing trail.
We've had some issues in the past and JRPS expects the level of cooperation
we have now. Please pass the word.
Thanks for your support.
Mike