The Holliston Trails Committee, chaired by Robert Weidknecht, quietly meets every month to discuss and decide on actions to take for the betterment of the Town’s 6.7-mile Upper Charles Rail Trail.

At the past two committee meetings, drainage in the Phipps tunnel area has drawn the most attention.  Town residents approved Article 9 at the Fall Town Meeting to expend up to $9,500 on a “geotechnical investigation” of the area.

At the October meeting (above left) attended by Marc Connelly, Robert Weidknecht, Martha Ellis, and Herb Brockert the committee discussed supplementing the above-mentioned investigation with a waterjet clearing of the drainage pipes that run under the tunnel.  So far only one quote has been received, more are being sought.  The cost may be up to $2,500 which would be covered by the Committee’s existing funds.  Also, Chair Weidknecht updated the committee on the request for ARPA funds to upgrade the flashing beacons at most road crossings with motion sensing devices that will start the flashers when trail users approach.  This increased safety feature is in response to the increased trail usage as more people get out during the pandemic.

The November meeting (above right) had Chair Weidknecht joined by members Bud Schmitt, Martha Ellis, Herb Brockert, and Ken Henderson. The committee will pursue funding from the CPC to further enhance drainage and trail clearing in the Phipps tunnel area.  The volunteers on the committee are not the only ones maintaining / upgrading our linear park.  Boy Scouts, Friends of the Trail, and “retired and dangerous” citizens put in countless hours making the trail such a safe and beautiful recreation area.

Countless hours may be a misstatement.  Since the trail’s inception, Robert Weidknecht has meticulously tracked the number of volunteer hours spent each year working on the trail.  In 2021 to date, 833.5 hours have been put in on a variety of maintenance/upgrades.  Of those 800 plus hours, over 700 have been volunteer hours.  Robert captures the work in 12 categories.  The top two categories, in terms of hours, are waste removal (95.75 hrs) and drain clearing in the Phipps tunnel area – primarily from the tunnel to the horse farm (85 hrs).  As an example of the amount and kind of work required to keep the Phipps tunnel drains flowing can be seen in the following photos – capturing work done on two recent mornings.

It’s basically a four-step process.  1) Volunteer Dave Bastille (below left) moves leaves from the ditch onto ‘dry ground.’

2)  Above right, Ken Henderson (red hat), Robert Weidknecht (green hood), and volunteer Bob Pierotti move the leaves into the bucket of the big loader.  Herb Brockert has his hands on the controls of the Town’s loader which the DPW shared with Herb for these two mornings.  Thank you, Robert Walker and crew, for the loan.

3) Below left is the ‘Herb’s Eye View’ of the action.  4) Clear sailing (below right).

At the end of this work, the crew agreed that leaf cleanup in this section would not take 85 hours when (if) the planned drainage improvements are in place.

Full disclosure, I am a member of the “retired and dangerous” crew and am glad to donate my time for such a worthwhile aspect of our community. Happy trail to all!