East Bay Bike Path

East Bay Bike Path

Facing south near the path's southern terminus in Bristol
East Bay Bike Path
Established 1992
Length 14.5 miles (23.3 km)
Location Bristol County, Rhode Island
Designation East Coast Greenway
Trailheads India Point Park
Bristol, Rhode Island
Use Hiking, Walking, Cycling
Hiking details
Trail difficulty Easy
Season All year
Months 12
Sights Narragansett Bay
Website East Bay Bike Path

The East Bay Bike Path is a 14.5-mile (23.3 km) paved rail trail in Rhode Island. The path begins at Providence and India Point Park, crosses the Seekonk River via the George Redman Linear Park (opened July 2015) and Washington Bridge and continues southeast to Bristol along the shoreline of Narragansett Bay. The path passes through the city of East Providence, the hamlet of Riverside, and the townships of Barrington and Warren. It is part of the East Coast Greenway and provides access to Haines State Park, Brickyard Pond (Barrington), and Colt State Park. It is used annually by 1.1 million people.

History

The plan for what would become Rhode Island's first major bike path was approved in April 1983 by Governor Edward DiPrete. It was built from 1987 to 1992,[1] following the abandoned rail bed of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad. The property was acquired and constructed in four phases:

  1. Riverside Square to Barrington County Road (4.17 miles or 6.71 kilometres)
  2. County Road, Barrington to Franklin Street, Warren (2.38 miles or 3.83 kilometres)
  3. Franklin Street, Warren to Independence Park, Bristol (3.87 miles or 6.23 kilometres)
  4. Riverside Square to India Point Park, Providence (3.98 miles or 6.41 kilometres)

The completed path was dedicated on May 31, 1992, by Governor Bruce Sundlun. An 8.5 mile on-road, via bike lane, was completed in 2011, linking the East Bay Bike Path with the south tip of the Blackstone River Bikeway, a 48-mile (77 km) trail, which will link Providence with Worcester, Massachusetts. Rhode Island's next project will be connecting the East Bay Bike Path with the Washington Secondary Rail Trail.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "East Bay Bike Path". Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, November 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.