WOONSOCKET – A new segment of the Blackstone River Bikeway is under construction in Woonsocket, connecting Cold Spring Park to Meadows Park in North Smithfield. The project is being handled by the R.I. Department of Transportation.
The $4.5 million segment is six-tenths of a mile in length. Called segment 8C, the bike path is partially funded through the Green Economy Bond, authorized in 2016 by Rhode Island voters.
The bike path follows the Blackstone River, and will add to the 16.4 miles of a bikeway built in various phases since 1998. Statewide, Rhode Island now has 60 miles of bike paths.
The new bike path is off-road and will include a 182-foot truss-style bridge over the Blackstone River, carrying the bike path from Woonsocket to North Smithfield.
The project is expected to take two years, with a completion set for fall 2019.
The path fits into a larger picture. In Woonsocket, it ends at the Massachusetts border, and is a short distance from the 3.7-mile segment of the Blackstone River Greenway in Blackstone, Mass. This is all part of the East Coast Greenway, a proposed national bike path that would stretch more than 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
