Ashland could see the Riverwalk Trail Project completed this year thanks to a $300,000 grant from the National Parks Service and the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
“It is a competitive grant application, with $4 million worth of applications being submitted for $1.2 million in available funding,” Michael Herbert, town manager, explained.
“The $300,000 grant represents one quarter of the $1.2 million project. The rest of the money is coming through local funds $600,000 in CPA and General Fund money and the remaining $350,000 is coming from other state funding sources. All of this money has been appropriated at previous town meetings,” Herbert added.
“We have started putting together the final design for the project,” Herbert said. “We are working with the Open Space and Recreation Committee on the final design of two bridges. That should be completed in the late winter. After bidding the construction work out, we expect to break ground in the spring of 2018, and finish in the late summer/early fall.”
The Riverwalk Trail runs along the Sudbury River and the north side of Mill Pond near downtown Ashland. Currently, trail access is restricted due to traffic safety hazards at and near the VFW and Marathon Park, private land ownership at the Mill Pond end of the trail, and limited parking and accessibility. Mill Pond is marginally accessible to people with disabilities, but no part of the trail is ADA-compliant.
Riverwalk Trail enhancements will include a handicap-accessible platform at the northwest end of Mill Pond, handicap-accessible parking and a handicap-accessible trail to the observation platform from Ponderosa Road; a handicap-accessible pedestrian bridge crossing the Sudbury River from behind the VFW on Pleasant Street and a trail extension from Marathon Park; trail improvements and privacy screening behind homes on Sudbury Road; and a large span pedestrian bridge across the Mill Pond Park providing direct access to the Bay Circuit Trail (a 200-mile regional trail extending from Duxbury to Kingston) and Mill Pond Park.
“Maeghan Dos Anjos, our conservation agent, has been the ‘point person’ for the grant for the town. Working with Beth Rosenblum and Roberta Soolman of Open Space, and Assistant Town Manager Jenn Ball, they were able to put together a winning application in this highly competitive program,” Herbert said.
Issue Date:
February, 2018
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