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Commission backs pursuing grant to build viewing platform, stabilize failing Ravine Trail structure at Pulpit Rock
Summary
After reviewing a consultant assessment of the Ravine Trail, the Conservation Commission endorsed pursuing a Recreation Trails Program grant to fund a viewing platform at the base of Pulpit Rock and to address a failing structure on the trail; the Pulpit Rock subcommittee will continue work and site visits to scope engineering needs.
The Bedford Conservation Commission reviewed a four-part assessment of the Ravine Trail on May 27 and endorsed pursuing a Recreation Trails Program (RTP) grant to fund a viewing platform at the base of Pulpit Rock and related trail stabilization work.
Consultant Conservation Trail Services (CTS) provided a photo journal, grouped-project recommendations, and suggestions for viewing platforms above and below the pulpit. Commission members and the Pulpit Rock subcommittee described a failing wooden walkway and high-use areas that are eroding trail surfaces. Kathleen Ports, conservation planner, said she is submitting an RTP grant request this week to fund a platform at the base of the pulpit; she told commissioners the RTP is the same program that funded the Marston Dunlap parking area.
Subcommittee members said the recommendation from the consultant was to remove the existing low wooden walkway that sits in the flow path, install a viewing platform south of the existing walk and extend a protective railing to the rock face, and restore trampled vegetation at the base to re-establish more natural hydrology. “The grant request that I am making now is to, we're gonna remove this walkway completely,” Ports said, and replace it with a raised platform to reduce trampling and improve safety.
Commissioners discussed options for the top-of-pulpit viewing area as well, including limited protective railings or anchored metal features, and asked about liability and signage. Cost estimates were discussed in general terms: one committee member noted a more engineered elevated solution had been quoted at roughly $30,000, while a low-cost approach using foundations built on tires had an earlier, substantially lower cost estimate (roughly $5,000) but was characterized as a less durable solution. Commissioners expressed a preference for a properly engineered approach for high-use, water-prone locations.
The commission indicated support to pursue the RTP grant for the base viewing platform and to refine scope and cost estimates. The Pulpit Rock subcommittee will schedule a site visit to measure the failing structure and discuss whether an engineered request-for-proposals (RFP) or contractor bid should be pursued. Commissioners also discussed adding interpretive signage and hazard warnings at trailheads and parking areas to advise visitors on trail difficulty.
