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River Walk Assessment – The North End Section

by Bill Dusty

On Wednesday, June 24, River Walk supporters walked the North End section of Springfield’s segment of the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway. The North End section stretches from West Street (at the the North End Bridge) to the Chicopee city line, and – most walkers agree – is the most scenic and well-kept portion of the Springfield River Walk. The walkers on this day included River Walk activist organizer Sheila McElwaine and supporters Herb Singleton and Mark Hambley, as well as Jose Claudio of the New North Citizens Council. A researcher from UMass and two visitors from San Diego also took in the tour.

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Wednesday morning saw a light rain, and the walkers occasionally had to put up their umbrellas. Otherwise, it was a pleasant tour of a pathway that turned out to be entirely devoid of the illegal dumping or other trash that plagued the other, more southerly sections of the River Walk. (The assessment tour took place on the same day as a city-organized cleanup along the downtown sections of the River Walk and Riverfront Park. Mike Cass, of the city’s graffiti removal department, said he had also recently gone up the North End section and cleaned up graffiti there.)

A tractor cuts away brush from the fence along the railroad tracks at Riverfront Park.

A cleared section of the fence.

A cleanup crew works southbound from the North End Bridge.

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The neighborhood along the North End section of the River Walk, Brightwood, is particularly attractive and the neighbors take pride in their section of the Walk. Staff from the nearby Baystate Medical Center also use the River Walk, according to Jose Claudio.

This observation point has lost its bench.

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In a post-walk assessment made by Sheila McElwaine, she noted the following observations:

Starting north from West Street at the east end of the North End Bridge, the first thing we noticed was the lack of signs announcing the existence of the trail. An empty footing remains at the entrance nearest the bridge. Not far away, a brick pad and some screws are all that remains of what was doubtless a bench and overlook. Also noted were the lack of mile markers, signs alerting visitors to trailside fauna (we saw a large turtle resting on the asphalt and holding a stick in its mouth, a small rabbit nibbling trailside grass, and a flock of swallows skimming low over the river at the Chicopee clear-cut).

McElwaine also noted that there had been discussion of an access point to the River Walk at M Street, but that the neighborhood had concerns about such an access possibly compromising the river dike. She finished by praising the clearing work that had been done in the past year:

Everyone was impressed by improved maintenance over what was seen a year ago. Graffiti had been painted out in ways that fit in particularly well with background surfaces: dense black paint for asphalt, solid bands of color on wooden railings. Jose singled out Mike Cass for special praise.

Much riverside overgrowth, particularly vines and scrub vegetation had been removed, opening up more river views.

Below are a few more photos of the North End section of the River Walk, followed by a brief video of the tour.

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We encountered this turtle on our travels. I wasn’t particularly impressed with its size (about average, I thought), though others considered it to be quite large. (I also thought it would probably taste pretty good.)

From left to right: Jose Claudio, Sheila McElwaine and Mark Hambley.

River Walk activist Herb Singleton, left, talks with Jim Bumpes, visiting from San Diego.

The Springfield segment of the River Walk comes to an end. The Chicopee side of the Connecticut River dike, meanwhile, has been clear-cut.

Finally, I spotted this little entanglement. It’s actually two separate trees that have formed a rather close relationship over the years. It somewhat reminded me of two earthworms mating.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Jun 26th, 2009 and filed under Cities & Towns, Latest Posts, Parks & Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.