The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced today that it has completed work on the next segment of the Blackstone River Bikeway. This section, approximately 2,000 feet long, is on the northern end of the path in Woonsocket.
While short, this new segment is vital in that it connects the former northern end of the path at the Woonsocket Water Treatment Plant on Manville Road (Route 126) to a 1-mile path segment through the River’s Edge Recreational Complex, a new park built by the City of Woonsocket. RIDOT provided funding for the bike path through the River’s Edge park.
The path is now 11.6 continuous miles in length, from Valley Falls Heritage Park near Cumberland Town Hall on Broad Street (Route 114) to the northern end of the River’s Edge park at Davison Avenue in Woonsocket.
The new segment is the fourth segment on the Blackstone River Bikeway that RIDOT has opened in the past two years. The most recent one was a 1-mile segment from the former Lonsdale Drive-In site through the Lonsdale Marsh on an elevated boardwalk. The new segment is the eighth contract RIDOT has completed since the first stretch of path was opened in 1998.
There are no new parking facilities for this new segment, but there is parking at the River’s Edge park and off New River Road in the Manville section of Lincoln. There are nine parking locations along the path, including access via a spur trail from the I-295 North visitor’s center in Lincoln.
The new segment cost $600,000 to complete and was built by Lucena Brothers of Cumberland.
Design work continues on future path segments that eventually will lengthen the path on both its northern and southern ends. RIDOT anticipates the Blackstone River Bikeway will be about 19 miles long when complete, connecting India Point Park in Providence to the Massachusetts line in North Smithfield.
Contact: Charles St. Martin 401-222-1362 x4007