Obey the signs: Camel's Back construction delayed by hikers, poses safety threat
BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) — The popular Boise Camel's Back trail is getting a new face lift.
Winspear Construction is building stairs and retaining walls towards the top of the trail to help fix and prevent further erosion problems.
They plan to finish the project by New Year's Day, but one problem keeps delaying construction.
"Almost every single day there will be someone on top of the site in the morning, so they come up on a morning jog. Or throughout the day, you'll have different people walking up trying to get up to the top," said Jordan Winspear, president of Winspear Construction.
Winspear's crew has had to stop working several times because of hikers.
"We had an instance with a grandma and her son, her grandson, they walked up on the hill, they walked through two signs - or two sets of signs - that were posted on fences. They walked around both of them, came up to the top and they wanted to walk across through the construction site. And they don't understand why they can't come up here," said Winspear.
One reason why you shouldn't venture into the area? Giant rocks. The crew is using rocks to build retaining walls.
"Some of the rocks weigh over 6,000 pounds so once they get going, they won't stop." said Winspear.
Concrete walls are set up to stop the rocks if one falls during construction. However, Winspear says when people walk in front of the walls, they lose that protection.
"At no time would they know that would be falling unless we scream and yell, but these rocks can get going pretty fast; we actually had one happen (before)," said Winspear.
Fortunately, no one was around when that rock slammed into the concrete wall.
Some other dangers around the site include huge holes, soft dirt, and large moving equipment.
"So if they want to use this hill they are going to have to give us a little bit of time to get it done. The time that they go up on the site, or around our signs and fences, slows us down for being able to get this project done on time," said Winspear.
Other trails around the main Camel's Back trail are still open. Winspear asked the city to keep them open so hikers have other choices.
His crew just needs until the end of December to finish up the project, but that's if they don't keep getting interrupted.
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