In November, the final works to renew AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) forest road “Ložmetējkalna ceļš” were completed in Valgunde parish. Over a considerable distance of more than 4.3 kilometres, the surface of this road of public importance was renewed and several further road improvement works were carried out.

The works took two months in all. During that time the road surface was renewed by laying a 14 cm thick layer of crushed gravel, while the infrastructure associated with the road – access ramps, passing places and bends – was also renewed. New road signs were installed as well, and tree stumps posing a hazard to traffic were disposed of at the sites where trees were felled by last year’s severe summer storm.

Along a 1.65 km stretch the road is narrower, as it passes through an avenue of lime trees; along the remaining stretch it is the usual 4.5 metres wide.

The first reconstruction of Ložmetējkalna ceļš was carried out in 2005, when it was built for public recreation and forest management needs. It is a road of public importance, as it leads to the Ložmetējkalns observation tower built by LVM, the recreation area at its foot, and Ložmetējkalns itself, which preserves evidence of the Christmas Battles and January Battles that took place in December 1916 and January 1917.