LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — After being closed for more than two years, Gulf Road reopened on Wednesday for the season.

 

For the last week, the town Highway Department has been clearing up fallen trees and graded the stretch of road on both its side and Dalton's side on Wednesday, Lanesborough Department of Public Works Director Charlie Durfee said. 

 

The seasonal dirt road closed because of flooding caused by what was initially thought to be from a beaver dam that was located on the Pittsfield stretch. 

 

It was initially assessed that the beavers were blocking the culvert, but this may have been incorrect, Pittsfield City Engineer Tyler Shedd said.

 

"The logs were clean-cut on each end, which suggested they were cut by a chainsaw," Shedd said 

 

The road often serves as a shortcut between Lanesborough and Dalton by drivers to avoid retail-related traffic at Allendale Plaza and Berkshire Crossing in Pittsfield. It runs about 1.7 miles from Route 8 near the Connector Road in Lanesborough, through Pittsfield and around the Boulders Reserve and comes out in Dalton, where it turns into High Street. 

 

A pool of water overtook the roadway last year, causing surface damage. The flowing water eroded the gravel road, creating rills and gullies that cut into the roadway, Shedd said.

 

The Pittsfield Department of Public Works started to unblock a culvert and repair the road in mid-December.

 

The city ran into some delays because the area is mapped as an Estimated Habitat of Rare Wildlife by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Pittsfield Conservation Agent Robert Van Der Kar said.

 

This required that the city obtain a permit with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act before removing the debris obstructing the culverts, he said. 

 

When work to remove the woody debris started, the department discovered that there were two 10-inch diameter logs about 3 or 4 feet long that had made their way into the pipe under the road.

 

A laborer from the Highway Division waded into the pool and used a pry bar to extract the first log that was nearest the inlet to the pipe. 

 

When the water run increased but was still not free-flowing, they discovered the second log at the outlet end of the pipe. 

 

They used the pry bar once again to dislodge the log and guided it through the pipe, where it was collected and removed from the stream channel, Shedd said. 

 

It is unclear what the exact cost was to repair the road. The "Highway Division purchases and keeps certain materials on hand, like loam, crushed stone, and gravel, to make repairs such as this," Shedd said. 

 

It took approximately three crew members from the highway division a full eight hours to clear and repair the road, along with about eight hours of work by a city engineer. 

 

"I would characterize the cost as minor in the context of the Department of Public Services and Utilities budget," Shedd said.