CAMDEN — By BRADLY GILL
Staff writer
Travis Daniel, code enforcement officer for the City of Camden, has been overseeing construction on the Trace project from the start and recently shared updates as to the progress of the project.
According to the Camden Connections Foundation's Facebook page: "The trail - which starts at the (Ouachita) County Courthouse, circles Riverwalk Park and ends again at the Courthouse - was purposefully designed for the aesthetic views along the street and the historical content provided for the pedestrian.”
In September, conduits were placed in the depot park area which runs along Maul to Adams Road, and in an email dated Sept.8, Daniel stated:
“This work required some rough layout of the park and where sidewalks and flower beds and structures will be located so that the future light poles will be appropriately paced. “
A ravine overlook is also making progress, with a wooded area being cleared, and a contractor has been dumping his rip rap - loose stone used to form a foundation for a break-water or other structure - in the ravine to prevent further erosion in that area.
In a separate email dated Oct. 2, Daniel wrote: “The past two weeks have been more of the same: Working on final grades at the Washington Street parking area, ravine overlook and Maul Road trail-head.
"There has been a slight modification to the Washington Street parking area; there is enough room between the trail and Dooley Womack (Drive) to have all the new parking be completely off the street. This will make it much more convenient for users to access the trail instead of parallel parking on the street.”
Daniel said the parking lot will accommodate 16 cars.
A major milestone was also reached this week with an area of the trail-head finally becoming developed enough to be paved.
In a final email, Daniel wrote:
“I wanted to wait as long as possible for this update:
"The contractor has been saying 'we are laying asphalt next week' for the past 5 weeks and finally 'next week' has arrived! Saturday the asphalt contractor was on the trail spraying the primer on the gravel surface.
The primer has to set up for a couple of days before the asphalt is laid.
Also, the City’s Street Department spent the last two days of the week on the trail with chain saws and the knuckle boom truck picking up the last of any debris they could find along the trail in preparation for paving.”
Daniel told the Camden News:
“The project is running on schedule and on budget, which is always a good thing.”
Also on the Camden Connection Foundation's Facebook page, it states that workers have been "clearing the way for construction of the Ravine Overlook.
The overlook is located near Ivory Primary School. It can serve as an outdoor classroom and will be a jumping off point for a nature trail with bug and tree identifications."
The current schedule has the trail opening in December of this year or January of 2018.