People driving along Blanchard Road are amazed to see the scale of work going on in Mary Cummings Park. The Trustees (of Reservations), the new park managers, are starting on an ambitious project to transform large areas from masses of invasive species into new, wide open meadows.
While is it scary to see construction equipment loose in the park, be assured that when the work is done the park will much more inviting, with more wildflower meadows and a new boardwalk that will allow visitors to birdwatch in the wetlands.
The scene along Blanchard Road is remarkable: a wall of mostly weedy trees has been cleared and the new meadow vistas are starting to open up.
At the entrance to Flyer's Filed, lumber to aid in construction is piled, and crushed stone has been placed to allow construction vehicles to enter.
Machines are dealing with some pretty large rocks, but think how the Cummings workers were able to handle these in the early 1800s without power tools!
You can see here that the construction starts right below the water tower on Blanchard.
The wood chipper is quiet over the weekend, but will have a lot to work on soon.
Construction equpment along Blanchard Road is turning a massive tangle of invasive weed species into wildflower meadows.
Great volumes of weed trees will be turned into wood chips.
Another new view opened up, from the edge of the thicket out towards where the new entrance and parking will be.
A view from the top of Flyer's Field: this has not been an open field for 50 years.
The Flyer's Field meadow is now visible from a new vantage point.
Just a week ago, this view was simply not there: it was nothing but tangled vines and thorn bushes.
The (closed) entrance at Flyer's Field is totally changed, with only the old kiosk still standing.
When you walk down the trail from the soccer field, you will find the trail to Flyer's Field blocked off to allow construction.
The trail from Flyer's Field up to the soccer field is closed for now.
The intersection of the trail to the new boardwalk where it crosses the Pipeline Trail.
Big machines have been here on the way to build the boardwalk into the wetland.
The heavy vehicles had to cross Flyer's Field to get to work on the boardwalk, but all will be repaired soon.
Heavy wood planks along the Pipeline Trail allow the machinery to stay out of the mud.
Trustees staff clearing the way where the new boardwalk will allow park visitor access to the large and lovely wetland.
The green machine is carrying heavy planks to build it's own roadway to lead to the new boardwalk.