Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail closed for maintenance at Lock 39 trailhead, Rockside Road, week of September Sept 23, 2013.

Yesterday we rode down to check out the  work on the trail surface along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, near Rockside Road, just south of Cleveland. This trail is part of the Ohio to Erie Trail. They are resurfacing an approximately 2 mile stretch of heavily used trail with fresh crushed limestone.

We weren’t positive, but it looked like they had scraped the old limestone surface off and then were packing the sub-surface down with a steam-roller. The plan is to then resurface the trail with fresh limestone. Work is supposed to be completed this week and that section of the trail is closed during the day, 8am to 4pm.

The closure is between Rockside Road, Lock 39 Trailhead in Independence and The Canal Visitor Center at Hillside Road in Valley View. This section is the northern tip of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Rockside Road is six miles south of the Harvard Road Trailhead in Cleveland.

Freshly scraped and steam-rolled towpath trail.

Steamroller packing the surface of Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

National Park re-surfacing crew on Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

A handful of trail surface.

A pile of crushed limestone towpath surface.

National Park worker on Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail using a blower to clean the surface.