Windham Parks & Rec On The Hunt for Rogue Bridge Builder
Lowell Preserve is a gorgeous area in Windham, Maine with hiking and bike trails as well as a playground. In the wintertime, you can enjoy snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Windham Parks and Rec works hard to keep the area beautiful and usable for the Maine community.
Sometimes people try to ruin it for the rest of us by leaving trash or tampering with nature. Others...build bridges. (GASP!)
Confused? Well, about 1500 other people on the Town of Windham, Maine's Facebook page are too.
You see, the page shared a photo of a newly constructed bridge next to one that I can't even really call a bridge considering the decrepit state it's in.
The town shared that the parks and recreation department is looking for information on who built the bridge. Not to thank them, though. The page notes that they work hard to maintain the trails and make it clear to users where the trails are. They expressed concern that the new bridge may confuse users navigating the area.
Commenters on the post are confused as to why there's an issue. On the surface, it looks like some good samaritans replaced a footbridge therefore improving the hiking experience.
Playing devil's advocate since, at the time of publishing the Town of Windham, Maine hasn't further addressed the issue, I wonder if this is perhaps an old trail not to be used anymore? As a novice hiker, I could definitely see myself getting confused and taking that route. Then again, there appears to be an orange marking on the nearby tree which in my limited hiking experience indicates a trail. Having never visited Lowell Preserve, I'm just speculating.
I would also question why someone would take the time to do this if it was not actually a trail.
The other issue could be liability. We all know people will sue at every opportunity. If a structure like a footbridge is built by an unknown individual on something the town is responsible for, and if it's faulty and someone gets hurt, the town could be held liable. Again, I have no idea if this is truly the case but I do struggle to see how the footbridge would be an issue outside of those two scenarios.
So if you're the bridge builder, nice work! Thanks for what appears to be an improvement of a beautiful trail presumably out of a desire to improve the space. Just know that apparently, it was not appreciated by the local parks and rec department. Still, your heart was in the right place.