A sign alerts visitors to a gap in the C&O Canal National Historical Park towpath between McMahon’s Mill and Dam 4 and directs them to a detour. (Credit: Photo by Andrew Schotz / )
A sign alerts visitors to a gap in the C&O Canal National Historical Park towpath between McMahon’s Mill and Dam 4 and directs them to a detour. (Credit: Photo by Andrew Schotz / ) |
By ANDREW SCHOTZ
andrews@herald-mail.com
WASHINGTON COUNTY — A new round of federal stimulus money includes $12.1 million to repair the only gap in the 184.5-mile C&O Canal National Historical Park.
The impassable section is at Big Slackwater, south of Williamsport.
“This has been our highest priority project for a while,” said Kevin Brandt, the park’s superintendent.
Government, park and tourism officials have said for years that the 2.7-mile stretch of the towpath needs to be repaired.
A roughly 4.5-mile detour sends walkers and bicyclists along Dam 4, Dellinger and Avis Mill roads, which don’t have shoulders. Dam 4 Road has turns and drops.
Bill Justice, the park’s chief of interpretation, said there have been more than 30 accidents in the detour area in the last five years.
“This is really significant,” he said of the restoration project.
It was unclear on Thursday how much the project will cost.
In 2006, one estimate was $12 million to $16 million. Brandt said last week that still might be about right, but he expected the stimulus money, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, won’t cover the full cost.
The Park Service needs to have commitments in place to use the stimulus money by Sept. 30, 2011, Brandt said. He expects the Park Service to advertise for bidders by next summer.
In a press release in January, Thomas B. Riford, president and CEO of the Hagerstown Convention & Visitors Bureau, reported the project estimate to be $15 million. However, there was hope the cost would be lower if the towpath width in that stretch were narrowed from 10 or 12 feet down to six feet, Riford wrote.
Brandt said Thursday that six feet probably is too narrow, but he didn’t expect the towpath there to be as wide as 12 feet, as it is in some places.
The Big Slackwater section was ruined by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, Justice said.
The Park Service worked to repair it in 1995, but flooding damaged it again in 1996.
Over the last 18 months, engineers have worked on a restoration design. About $250,000 to $300,000 was raised for the engineering work, including a $100,000 Maryland state bond bill, which the National Park Service had to match.
Recently, the nonprofit C&O Canal Association donated $40,000 toward the cost of an environmental assessment for the project, according to the association’s Web site.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, both Democrats from Maryland, issued a press release applauding $13.8 million in federal stimulus money for work at national parks entirely or partly in Maryland.
That included $731,000 for four projects at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg — paving parking areas and driveways, preserving historic headstones, rehabilitating the Snavely Ford Trail and replacing the administration building roof.
In Frederick County, Md., Catoctin Mountain Park will get $1.18 million and Monocacy National Battlefield will get $247,000.
C&O Canal National Historical Park is listed in the news release for $1.891 million for projects, none of which are in Washington County. Portions of the park in Brunswick and Point of Rocks, both in Frederick County, Md., are listed.
The senators’ news release doesn’t mention the $12.1 million for Big Slackwater. Brandt said the project was incorrectly listed in the stimulus bill under Washington, D.C., instead of Maryland.
Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Hagerstown on 2007, Cardin said he didn’t expect federal money for Big Slackwater for at least a few years and suggested finding a more “creative” way to get money.
The stimulus bill, an effort to jump-start the nation’s struggling economy, changed that.
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| From: fatcat Sun 26 Apr 2009 08:32:26 PM EDT | be smart make it a toll section |
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| From: WashCoWatcher Mon 27 Apr 2009 05:55:16 AM EDT | Thank goodness they've "found" the money to finish this 184.5 mile long open sewer. Definitely a high priority! |
| From: buckaroo Mon 27 Apr 2009 09:10:56 AM EDT | THE C&O CANAL IS LITTLE MORE THAN 184 MILES OF MOSQUITO BREEDING DITCH !! i have spent thousands of days on the potomac river and although i have seen a lot of biker / hiker use of this path it does not come close to warrent spending millions of dollars on to keep it in repairs . this over rated so called park is in better condition than many of our roads . the park system claims that of 4 million people use the canal annually , that is blatently untrue ! check it out on the national park service web site , it isn't even in the top ten in useage . this PARK ??? has been repaired a zillion times and as soon as we have flooding it is washed out again , it's like dumping money down a rat hole . this federal property is for bikers and hikers , the rest of the citizens are denied using it as access to the river except at a few boat launching ramps .VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA residents have unlimited access to the river at no cost to them in taxes or in any other manner , they are also the main source of polution |
| From: buckaroo Mon 27 Apr 2009 09:31:53 AM EDT | ( CONTINUED CANAL ) i see no problem with maintaing the canal museums to advertise that the canal was a failed project from the start , but to spend untold amounts of money to maintain the path as a super hiway in such pristeen condition that you wont step on a stone . the police force on tha canal are like prison guards . a person cant even pick a wild flower without getting into trouble .. there are hundreds of more urgent and important projects that the feds can spend money on other than providing a breeding grounds for mosquitoe's and other vermin .. in my opinion this 184 miles should be abandoned as a federal under used park and be allowed to return to it's natural wild state so that all citizens could use it , not just biker/hikers . FACT ! more than once while on the river in my boat i saw canal maintainance crews sleeping in their trucks parked on the canal in the middle of the day ... |
| From: afretired2008 Mon 27 Apr 2009 10:40:35 AM EDT | Buckaroo..as a life long Williamsport river rat your comment about the canal being a failed project is not fair. The truth is (read your history) there were extinuating circumstances and events, i.e the railroad, floods, etc that caused the short lived usage. The idea of the project was brilliant for its time. While I agree the $ spent for upkeep is excessive, some should be spent to at least keep the tow path open and usable. |
| From: donnieb Mon 27 Apr 2009 04:23:57 PM EDT | I don't care how much it cost. I want these hikers and bikers off the roads. You come over a hill and they are right in the middle. If they ever get it finished they can stay on the river and not in the road. If you don't like the Canal.... Don't go down there and visit. All that vermon will sneak up behind ya and getchya... |
| From: local Mon 27 Apr 2009 04:57:40 PM EDT | A big thanks to the Chinese for the loan to do this! I hope my grandkids will understand... |
| From: oupa Mon 27 Apr 2009 08:06:32 PM EDT | Whew! Reluctant to get in this but I wouldn't mind so much if they engineer the "repair" so it can withstand the floods that WILL come. However NPS will only allow historicly correct work, which "history" has proven is a waste of time and money. We could make it permanent but the canal went out of business (in part) due to the inability of 19th century technology to stand up to the Potomac's furry. Why not do it right so it will last and post an interpretive sign explaining why it's not historicly correct? Wouldn't that be better than what we have now NPS??? |
| From: limps Tue 28 Apr 2009 01:06:45 PM EDT | Doesn't this create jobs? Ohhhh, not the right kind of jobs... I get it... |
| From: adventure184 Wed 29 Apr 2009 12:31:47 AM EDT | GREAT NEWS!!! No slack at "Big Slack" has been a rallying cry for years to repair C&O canal towpath between Dam 4 (Mile 84.5) and McMahons Mill (Mile 88.5). This restoration has long been a top priority because the current detour is extremely dangerous for hikers, bikers and motorists. This National Treasure deserves this repair ASAP! It's money well spent. |
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