The popular trail to the summit of Spencer Butte in south Eugene will be closed Thursday. The city is building a new clearly marked trail at the rocky top of the butte.
Crews started work on the new trail last week.
Philip Richardson is with the City of Eugene's Parks and Open Space Division.
Richardson: "Because it's very difficult to find where the trail is, they've just been kind of wandering all over and impacting the habitat. And, also there's a safety concern. Because, every year there's injuries up there. In fact, we've had a number of Lane Sheriff emergency crews come up and helicopter people off over the past decade."
Richardson says crews will build some stairs, but it's not going to literally be a stairway to the top of the butte. The Spencer Butte summit trail will be closed Thursday. There will be other periodic closures while the work is underway. The $529-thousand grant-funded project is expected to be complete by the end of July.
