September 12, 2008: The easements from the Rivers Edge Homeowners Association and the Newburyport Manager LLC (owner of the marina pier) have been signed by all parties, and are in the process of being recorded at the Registry.  Including the associated memorandum of understanding, these executed easements are the culmination of two-and-a-half year’s work!  In addition, last week the City of Newburyport received six bids for the construction of the Harborwalk project, and we have contracted with North Shore Marine, Inc. of Salem.  We are in the process of setting up a pre-construction meeting, and the contractor is planning to begin work around the end of September or beginning of October, saw-cutting the asphalt at the end of Riverfront Road, removing the existing guardrail and installing a timber guard rail, excavating and replacing a damaged drain pipe, etc.  In November, the contractor anticipates mobilizing the barge to drive the boardwalk’s pilings and install the timber framing for the boardwalk.  The decking and railing will be installed in the late winter and early spring, and the job should be completed by May, 2009.

July 30, 2008: We are finalizing the specifications and contract documents for this project, which has been recently advertised for construction.  Plans and specifications will be available to contractors beginning Friday, August 8th.  A pre-bid conference will be held on August 20th, and the bids will be due on Thursday August 28th.  We anticipate selecting a contractor in September.  While the contractor will likely do some work in the fall, there is a long lead time for ordering the decking material and the bulk of the job will be done in the winter and early spring.

June 17, 2008: The Department of Environmental Protection issued its Chapter 91 license for the project on June 16, 2008, which completes the permitting for the project.  The necessary easements from Newburyport Manager LLC, trustee of the Marina, and the Rivers Edge Condominium Association had to be revised once again, but they have been finalized and we continue to await final signatures.  The City and the Commonwealth have executed the final grant contract for $450,000, and the City has requested the construction funding.  The designer, Vine Associates, is in the process of finalizing specifications and details of the bid package, and we continue to anticipate bidding the project this summer after confirmation that the construction schedule for the adjacent Rail Trail project is on track.

May 15, 2008: The Harborwalk Extension project is in the final stages of design and permitting.  The project has received approvals from the Conservation Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP), and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).  We are currently waiting for completion of the appeal period for the draft DEP Chapter 91 license.  In addition, we are awaiting a final signature on the easement documents prior to recording the necessary easements in front of the Rivers Edge Condominium Association and the Rivers Edge Marina. 

The City of Newburyport is fundamentally defined by its relation to the Merrimack River waterfront.  A long-term City goal has been to significantly expand public access to and along the shoreline by connecting the existing Peter J. Matthews Boardwalk and Market Landing Park at the central waterfront with Cashman Park to the west and Joppa Park to the east.  The Newburyport Waterfront Strategic Plan advocated for a high priority Harborwalk Extension project, noting that no other improvement would have “as large an impact on how people view and use the waterfront.” 

The City hired marine engineer Vine Associates, Inc. at the end of 2006 to design the 450-foot Harborwalk Extension project, which consists primarily of an 8-foot wide, pile-supported, timber boardwalk through the intertidal zone in front of the Rivers Edge Condominiums and the Rivers Edge Marina.  In order to connect directly with the existing shoreline pathway at Cashman Park, the project also includes reconfiguring the end of the cul-de-sac Riverfront Road (an extension of Pop Crowley Way) at the eastern end of the park, reducing the extent of impervious asphalt surfaces and installing a planting area.  The project will also repair a damaged drain line.

Project Plans (Construction Sheets 1-4)

Existing conditions have made public access along the riverfront in this area next to impossible due to the physical barriers of Riverfront Road, the Rivers Edge Condominium complex (which is built up to the edge of the intertidal zone), the pier of the Rivers Edge Marina, plus the 18-foot high old railroad embankment and the Route 1 bridge.  The City has worked cooperatively with the Rivers Edge Condominium Association and the Rivers Edge Marina to negotiate legal access for the public and the right to construct a boardwalk, executing a Memorandum of Agreement and temporary and permanent trail easements.  The parallel Clipper City Rail Trail project is addressing the railroad embankment and bridge underpass.

The boardwalk is being built during the off-season in order to avoid seasonal marina operations, anadromous fish runs and growing salt marsh.  This “linchpin” piece of infrastructure will connect Cashman Park and its existing 1,700 linear feet of shoreline trail with the one-mile Clipper City Rail Trail, the Waterside West district and eventually the downtown’s central waterfront and beyond. 

In addition, the City anticipates upgrading the Route 1 bridge underpass by installing high quality, large format (36”x48”), porcelain enamel reproductions of evocative old photographs of the Newburyport waterfront’s maritime use. Public sculpture will also improve the overlooks.

Funding for the design and construction of the Harborwalk Extension project has been provided by the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council through the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Waterways Division, as well as the state’s Recreational Grants Program, and the Community Preservation Act (CPA).  Implementation of the Harborwalk Extension will expand the four-town regional Coastal Trails Network, and advance the statewide priority of building a Merrimack River Rail Trail at the intersection cross-roads of the Border to Boston Trail.

Future Harborwalk Extensions include: the area of the “Waterside West District” owned by Steven Karp and his partners; and the old City Branch rail corridor along the waterfront to the east of the central waterfront.  Once completed, the City will have an approximately 1.5 mile Harborwalk with the central waterfront and downtown in the middle.  (Further extensions to the east beyond Joppa Park, and to the west beyond the old Towle building, will be even more difficult than these sections due to the existing development pattern and terrain…but nothing is impossible.)