The beautification initiative targeting the paved access road up Pack Monadnock in Miller State Park should be wrapped up by the end of the year, local stakeholder David Baum said, after three-and-a-half years in the making.
The 1.3-mile paved road connecting Route 101 to the mountain’s summit is a popular walking spot for locals and visitors alike. A 2017 proposal that would have rerouted utility lines along the road and impacted the aesthetics of the route prompted activists from Peterborough and Temple to make an “audacious” request to Eversource and state stakeholders: Use the opportunity to actively beautify the park, rather than just minimize damage.
“We had one shot,” Baum said, to stop the project as proposed, get a seat at the table, and enact a meaningful improvement.
In 2019, their dream came true when the DNCR unveiled a revised plan that minimized the visual impact of the utility line, which needed some safety upgrades, and allowed for further beautification efforts on the summit of the mountain, which has a smattering of towers, utility buildings, and chain link fences owned by different entities.
This April, construction crews will begin to install the new utility line that will run up the southwest side of the mountain, only crossing the road once.
“Along the road we’re taking poles out, burying lines at the top, moving lines into the woods where they won’t be seen or felt, and creating a beautification program for the buildings and fencing. It will look like a state park,” Baum told listeners at a public hearing Tuesday night. “It will also solve the problems that initially brought this issue forward, which were potential safety concerns with the current condition of the existing electric and communications systems.”
The auto road will be closed and hikers will be rerouted onto different trails during the two to three months of construction, according to the DNCR’s most recent timeline.
“It’s gonna be a hot mess for a little while, for sure,” Baum said.
He said he expects other beautification measures to wrap up later in the summer or fall, including repainting summit buildings, removing certain trees to improve periodic views of Mount Monadnock, and restoring the construction access points along the road by planting native species like blueberry and mountain laurel.
Eversource and state agencies are on board to tackle the final projects along with local volunteers, Baum said. The years-long process ultimately built a lot of trust between all the interest groups in the project, he said. Some have even become friends: Baum and Eversource head arborist Bob Allen even put together a Spotify playlist for hikers, he said.
Baum and fellow volunteer Greg Connolly intend to check in multiple times a week. “We will be your eyes and ears to make sure it goes as well as possible,” he said, and will respond directly to community concerns. “I feel great about it, I really do,” he said.
Project updates can be found on the NH State website.