The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced today that is has closed a portion of the Coventry Greenway in the eastern part of Coventry from Whitford Street, close to the West Warwick line, to Station Street in Coventry. The path is under construction and the Department expects to re-open it in Summer 2010.
RIDOT recently awarded a $1.6 million contract to J.H. Lynch, Inc. of Cumberland to pave this portion of the Coventry Greenway, which has a gravel surface with paved bike path segments at either end. The path is being constructed along a former rail corridor owned by the Town of Coventry.
RIDOT asks that cyclists and pedestrians refrain from accessing the path until construction is complete. Three bridge crossings along this segment of the Coventry Greenway will be blocked off.
The contract also provides funds to make minor drainage and handicapped accessibility improvements to the nearby West Warwick Greenway.
When completed, this new segment will join the rest of the Coventry Greenway and three other paths – the West Warwick Greenway, Warwick Bike Path and the Cranston Bike Path – to form a 14.2-mile continuous bike path from Cranston to Central Coventry. Collectively the paths are known as the Washington Secondary Bike Path, and will become the second-longest bike path in Rhode Island behind the 14.5-mile East Bay Bike Path.
Contact: Charles St. Martin 401-222-1362 x4007
