I’ve been contacted by many volunteers for the trash clean up under the Boulevard Bridge planned for Saturday Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. The logistics have not been completed yet, as I’m still negociating with the City of Richmond to allow us to cross the temporary bridge over the canal just west of the Boulevard Bridge at the new Pump House. If we can get that, collecting and removing the trash will be easier.
If not, we will have to access the area by hiking about a half-mile from the North Bank Park parking lot. It has been a couple of years since there was a big effort to collect trash there and this is the best time of year to clean, as the underbrush is dormant and the trash will be easier to reach. I took pictures there this past week and there seems to be plenty of bottles, cans, cups, trash bags and even car parts.
This will require some hard work and commitment. We may need to bag trash and haul it by rope to the top of the bridge to avoid having to hike with the trash all the way back to the North Bank parking lot. See more information in my post from last week.
The date of the cleanup will be February 4 (Super Bowl weekend) from 9 a.m. to noon, with February 11 as a rain date. Volunteers will need to meet in the parking lot of North Bank Park. There will likely be a need for other volunteers to drive to the gravel lot off Pump House Drive to help pull up the trash to the deck of the bridge or to help carry the trash bags over the canal if we are given access to cross the train tracks and use that facility.
Please bring gloves, trash bags, warm clothes with long sleeves and pants legs. There is some sitting water in the area, so it might be helpful for someone to have rubber boots. We will need some people to bring clippers or loppers, as there will be some underbrush to clear.
Questions, please contact Phil Riggan [philriggan at yahoo.com or 432-3088]
Thank you!