Cape trail closed for repair

CAPE ELIZABETH — If you were planning to do any winter hiking in Cape Elizabeth, you may have to change those plans, at least if your itinerary includes the Gull Crest Outer Loop.

That trail has been closed until at least Feb. 15 to facilitate trail repair. Described as “chronically muddy,” the outer loop was identified as a “high priority” by the town’s seven-member conservation commission following a town-wide trail inventory last fall.

According to Town Planner Maureen O’Meara, the town has contracted with Grover Road excavation contractor L.P. Murray & Sons Inc. For $11,845, Murray will install 1,150 linear feet of 16-foot-wide boardwalking. The hemlock trail cover will extend from the “floating bridge” just south of the marsh to the Fowler Road trail connector.

Money for the project comes from the town’s greenbelt trail budget. Although just $8,000 is appropriated to that fund each year, it had “carry-over” money unspent from last season, allowing for the larger project, said O’Meara.

Because the trail work is being done while the ground is frozen, Murray will be able to access the area with minimal impact to wetlands traversed by the trail, said O’Meara.