Ruder Preserve's handicap accessible boardwalk nears completion
The Ruder Preserve boardwalk maintained by Three Valley Conservation Trust is nearing completion this summer.
Ruder Preserve’s handicap-accessible boardwalk is expected to be finished sometime this summer.
Three Valley Conservation Trust (3VCT), a nonprofit organization focused on conservation efforts, acquired rights to the land in the late 1990s through a conservation easement, and until recently, it sat untouched. Then, roughly six years ago, 3VCT set out to restore it. What started as volunteers removing honeysuckle bushes and other invasive species from the 14-acre land along Four Mile Creek turned into an initiative to create a handicap accessible boardwalk for the Oxford community.
Randy Evans, executive director of the trust, said as they began working on cleaning up the land, they quickly realized how perfect the spot was for recreation trails. At first, they considered making dirt trails.
“And then, as we're talking to community members, they mentioned there's really no place to [be in nature] if you have limited mobility,” Evans said. “So we thought, well, if we're going to put in a parking lot, there's no reason we can't just do a ramp right off the parking lot onto a boardwalk that anybody can use with a walker, a wheelchair or a stroller.”
Although anyone can volunteer to help at Ruder Preserve, Evans said most of the credit for the work has to go to Three Valley’s board members and their friends. Mark Boardman, a board member for 3VCT, is one of the volunteers building the boardwalk. He said the project shows how coming together as a community can make a real impact.
“Part of the mission statement, part of our kind of values, is not only to conserve the land, but to make it kind of useful for society,” Boardman said. “We have this opportunity with Ruder Preserve to make it an example of what can be done.”
The boardwalk is split into two sections, one on each side of the creek. Along with being ADA compliant, the boardwalk also has benches and foot stools where visitors can kick back and enjoy the view. Plaques with the names of people who donated $100 or more to the project line its handrails.
Boardman, who is retired, tries to spend a few hours every day working on the boardwalk. He said his passion for this project comes from his desire to help others.
“There’s not a lot I can do globally, except give money,” Boardman said. “This is something that I can do locally, and it’s my community. And so I’ll do what I can with the resources I have.”
When the project is complete, Evans said they plan to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor those who helped make it possible.
