The city is beginning survey work this week on a new and improved walking and biking trail behind Haverhill Stadium along the Merrimack River.
As WHAV reported first last June, the Riverside Park Connector Trail will begin at the back of the park and stretch along the river’s shoreline and through the woods for about a half mile to the Congressman William H. Bates Veterans Memorial Bridge. Mayor James Fiorentini said Friday the 10-foot-wide nature trail will split into two paths at various points, providing a disability-accessible asphalt surface on one stretch and a stone-dust or natural dirt surface on another.
“It’s going to include benches and picnic tables and maybe a boat launch along the river,” said the mayor. “We’ve wanted to extend and improve this trail for some time, but only recently were we able to obtain an easement behind (River’s Edge Plaza) to run the trail behind the former Building 19 as part of that redevelopment project.”
Construction on the trail is scheduled to begin next spring and it is expected to open by next June 30. The new trail also expands a pedestrian and bike network along both banks of the river from the Pfc. Ralph T. Basiliere Bridge at the entrance to downtown to the Bates Bridge that connects Haverhill to Groveland.
The new Riverside trail as well as trail improvements at Winnekenni and Plug Pond recreation areas are being funded with $556,000 in state grants the city received this past summer. Of those funds, $500,000 is for the Riverside trail project and $56,000 is being used to improve a walking trail at Winnekenni Park that links that park to the Plug Pond park and swimming area. That project includes installing signs, fixing potholes and washouts in low lying areas, and stabilizing the riverbank along the trail.
“This is all part of our long-running commitment to improving all our parks, playgrounds, and recreational areas, and making Haverhill a more walkable community” Fiorentini said.
The mayor credited city grants manager Kerry Fitzgerald for her work obtaining the grant and noted that next year’s city budget includes an unprecedented $120,000 to be shared by Fitzgerald and the city’s Washington D.C.-based federal grant consultants Merchant-McIntyre, which has secured almost $1 million for the city in the past year.