The Narragansett Times
By Shaun Kirby
Narragansett – The Town council
heard an update from Acting Town Manager Dean Hoxsie regarding the town’s
ongoing conversation of an extension to the William C. O’Neill bike path, which
just last year had a section from Kingstown Road in South Kingstown to Mumford
Road in Narragansett completed. Debate and delay of the bike path extension has
centered around where in Narragansett the path should run, namely through
Canonchet Farm.
Michael DeLuca, Director of
Community Development, sent a letter dated October 9, 2012 to Director of the
Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Michael Lewis, stating the
town’s wish to continue discussion to bring the bike path extension, which
ideally would run to some point near Narragansett Town Beach, into realization.
“This letter dated October 9 was
not in any way a validation of a particular BP, but to ask where we are in the
process with RIDOT,” said Hoxsie. “They are progressing through their stages,
we have to come up with our choices and, as of this morning, Representative
Teresa Tanzi has come in and provided a draft from the group she had been
working with what they would like to recommend as a route for the bike path.”
According to DeLuca’s letter, town
officials met with RIDOT on June 5th to discuss a number of town
projects which are dependent on RIDOT approval or funding. The construction of
a bike path through Canonchet Farm towards the Narragansett Town Beach, which
last year was a large topic of debate, is a major component of the Canonchet
Master Plan.
“In their decision, the Town
Council adopted a policy of supporting a route through the Canonchet Farm site
ultimately terminating at the gravel parking lot off Ann Hoxsie Lane,” read
DeLuca’s letter.
DeLuca also made mention in his
letter a potential route along the former Seaview Railway, which borders the
west side of the Canonchet Farm property and runs alongside Pettaquamscutt Cove
towards the Sprague Bridge area. Tanzi and a group of vested local citizens
have been working over the past few months to conceptualize the new path
option, as well as compromise on specific route details that have been
contended with by the town and the public over the past year.
“I’ve sat through these Town
Council meetings for years and it got to the point where we had a number of
individuals with knowledge of the area presenting individual plans,” said
Tanzi. “That made it difficult for the Council to move forward.”
“We met in
June to get all the people involved together, and we have a geologist, a
botanist, and people who have a deep love for the farm,” she added. “We looked
at all bike paths proposed by the town and we walked through the woods,
literally foot by foot through the property to discuss what may or may not be
the best path and to educate each other. Every person had the opportunity to be
the leader of their own path.”
Tanzi noted
that she did not have any voting power on the citizen group, but acted as more
of a facilitator. The proposal is nearing completion, and Tanzi stressed that the
time to decide on a plan for a new bike path extension in Narragansett is
closing, noting that the $1.2 million originally earmarked by RIDOT in the
early 2000s for the bike path could be lost if no decision is made soon.
“This
[topic] has been contentious in the past, but we are in limbo and losing
dollars,” said Tanzi. “That $1.2 million is not worth the same as it was, and
inflation is eating away those dollars. We need to get this done.”
