Disability Commission votes to continue efforts on Lynn Woods trails

LYNN – Members of the Disability Commission voted to continue efforts toward enhancing the accessibility of certain trails at the Lynn Woods Reservation during a meeting Tuesday.The commission unanimously passed member Roger Ennis? motion for a subcommittee to keep working on the Woods issue with Ranger Dan Small and the Park Commission.?I think most people are in favor of this,” Small said.The subcommittee, including members Nicholas Capano and Michael Cerulli, seeks to make areas of the Woods more accessible to visitors, including people who are handicapped.The effort took root last fall, after Capano, who was born with spina bifida and moves in a wheelchair, visited the Woods from the Great Woods Road parking lot and had some difficulties with the rocky terrain.Last month, Small guided a group of people, including Capano and Cerulli, through a different section of the Woods that began at the Pennybrook Road parking lot, examining trails that could be made more accessible.On Tuesday, Disability Commission members and Small discussed plans for accessible trails from the Pennybrook Road entrance, routes that could eventually cover a distance of about 1-2 miles, with a mixed coating of a gravelly substance called linpack and stone dust.?I think the trails selected have a deep-woods experience that people have never experienced,” Cerulli said. “The benefits are that it will open up a broader area, a major intersection. Pennybrook is a well-maintained road.”For materials, Cerulli reported 100 donated tons of surface material and 30 wheelbarrows.?Materials have to be delivered,” he said. “There?s a lot of materials. We?ll have to do staging with heavy-type equipment. The construction people have been very generous.”Cerulli estimated that the work would take two Saturdays to complete, with Small citing a “tentative plan” for May 17.?I know people who will help us with manual labor,” Cerulli said. “It?s all without a penny expended by taxpayers.”Cerulli said that the contractor for the project “did not wish to be identified until all the work is done. When the trail is completed, the construction outfit will be credited.”Several issues must be addressed. The project must meet the approval of Park Commissioner Steven Babbitt. Small said he would ask Babbitt for his decision.There is also the issue of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA); the steepness of the trails seems greater than the maximum amount that would qualify them for ADA-accessible status. Small said he recommended calling refurbished trails “improved” instead of ADA-accessible, and publicizing information about these trails through signage.?Now everything is in place to commence the work, other than final approval from the Park Commissioner,” Cerulli said. “We?ve had great generosity with all the materials, equipment and labor. We?re in place to really schedule this and begin the project. I?m sure we can overcome concerns about labeling (trails). Nick Capano has gone over the material in the Rose Garden and given it a thumbs-up.?It will be an improvement to the Woods overall. Hopefully, (people in wheelchairs) can get in there, families with small kids in bikes, the elderly, hopefully, in walkers.”He added, “If Nick Capano can do it, I?m happy with that … It?s all in place. All we need to do is schedule the work.”