Road Closures

At various times, site conditions may require that the wetland's roads be closed to vehicles. The roads are normally open to foot traffic and non-motorized vehicles, except in the case of a serious safety concern.

The wetland roads are built on a base of local clay. When they get wet, it becomes very soft, and will become a muddy mess after about four cars drive through the same area. They were NOT built for heavy car traffic. Today we have over 160,000 people visit the wetlands each year; a far cry from the planned one or two maintenance trucks per day.

As Volunteers, we protect the roads from damage. Why? Because, just as the Utility department didn't plan for heavy traffic, they did not and have not budgeted for maintenance of the roads. The Natural Resources Management Department relies on donations to keep the roads maintained.

How long are they closed?

If we get rain during the day or overnight, you can expect them to be closed for 24 hours. If we get rain everyday for over a week (as we did in Aug/Sep 2014) you can expect the roads to be closed to vehicle traffic for several days.

As always, when roads are closed to vehicles for wet conditions, pedestrians and bicycle traffic are permitted.