With a snip of the red ribbon, St. John resident Janet George-Carty Wednesday officially opened the handicapped accessible trail at the V.I. National Park’s Francis Bay.
The trail leads from the road to Francis Bay, through mangroves and sea grapes, to an overlook at a pond popular with birding enthusiasts.
The 650-foot wooden boardwalk is a Friends of the Park project. The work was done by 20 volunteers who worked full and part-time for almost a week to get the job done. Friends President Joe Kessler said MSI Building Supplies donated $20,000 worth of lumber for the trail, the park contributed $10,000 worth of fasteners, foundation pads and hardware and Maho Bay Camps donated about $8,000 to pay for the rest of the materials.
"It was a lot of people coming together to make this happen," Kessler said.
Kessler pointed out that volunteers were skilled carpenters, boat builders and folks he called weekend warriors who had carpentry skills.
According to George-Carty, who uses crutches and a wheelchair to get around, St. John needs lots more work in improving handicapped access.
"It’s difficult to get to the beach because I can’t walk on the sand," she said.
Improvements are underway, however. Kessler said the Friends plan to start raising money to build an accessible trail through the Cinnamon Bay ruins. When that’s done, the Friends hope to extend the boardwalk at the Francis Bay Trail.
"We have to see how much they are used, and then we can look at expanding," Kessler said.
St. John Administrator Leona Smith, who was on hand for the ribbon cutting, said plans are in the works to create a boardwalk from the Cruz Bay ferry dock around the Battery to the Creek to improve accessibility.
Kessler acknowledged many of the park’s trails are not suitable for accessibility improvements because of the island’s hilly terrain, but he said some could be improved with things such as handrails or some flattening to make it easier for people with canes to use.
Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove agreed that access to the island’s trails was a big issue. While the Francis Bay Trail was built to help people with mobility issues see the sites, Hardgrove said the park also faces problems in getting injured people out of far flung locations. To help, he said the park recently bought a small landing craft to make it easier for park staff and medical personnel to remove those injured or sick.
Hardgrove said that while the park gets bogged down in government bureaucracy, groups like the Friends are instrumental in moving the park forward on accessibility issues.
"Friends groups are barrier breakers," he said.
