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An Informal Survey of the CT River Walk & Bikeway (Part 2)

by Bill Dusty

On Part Two of our ‘”citizens survey” of the Springfield section of the Connecticut River Walk & Bikeway, we began our journey at Riverfront Park’s main entrance and trekked northward, with our final destination being West Street (Rte. 20), next to Bassett Boat. Our group included Sheila McElwaine, Mark Hambley, Bob McCarroll, Herb Singleton, Heather Brandon and myself.

(map graphic: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission)
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It was an exceedingly hot Tuesday afternoon – much hotter than any of us anticipated. Perhaps as a result, tensions flared from the get-go, with Bob and Herb’s dogs going at it early.

As the group mapped out their strategy, I couldn’t help but notice that all of the Park’s lights were on.

Unfortunately, graffiti was a big part of our scenic tour. Above is the railway underpass, located at the northern section of Riverfront Park.

Above and below are shots of the underbelly of Memorial Bridge.

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The railroad overpass provides visitors with terrific distant views of the river, railroad bridge, and city.

Closer views, however, featured overgrowth and litter, plus the overheard conversions of vagrants who populate the underside of the overpass.

I was once told by someone that the vagrant issue along the River Walk had been largely taken care of about a year ago or so. I found this to be, at best, inaccurate. From the Memorial Bridge to beyond the railroad overpass, vagrants appeared to have firmly staked out their turf.

Mark Hambley even stopped by to chat with a few of the locals. they said they enjoyed the park, and would never litter.

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Beyond the railroad overpass, the Bikeway follows along the top of the river levy. Looking down towards the river bank, we occasionally caught sight of makeshift “catwalks” (for when the river ran high) and other wooden constructions along the way. These areas seemed clear of refuse and surprisingly well kept for the most part….

This appears to be some kind of deer stand.

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If I could list three primary observations of our walk from Riverfront Park to Route 20, it would be a.) The bikeway itself is in fine condition; b.) There is enormous overgrowth along the Memorial Bridge-railroad overpass section, which creates a prime environment for illegal activity; and c.) There is not a single trash receptacle along the entire way.

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As we walked up to Bassett Boat, where our journey that day would end, we snapped a couple more photos before turning and heading back south. Below is a 10-minute video of our trip along the Bikeway…

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A summary and video of our journey along the South End section of the River Walk & Bikeway can be seen in this post.

All-in-all, the Bikeway itself is in very good condition. We saw walkers and joggers throughout our journey. With the exception of Mark Hambley’s brief foray, we did not venture into the dense brush along the railroad overpass or around Memorial Bridge, where we heard much of the drug use and other illegal activity took place (and perhaps this, too, was mostly at night).

Below is a transcript of Sheila McElwaine’s own observations of our survey that day.

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We began by looking over the railroad underpass near the unpaved ProPark lot at the north end of Riverfront Park. Besides what looked like someone’s laundry hanging from the fence along the railroad tracks, we noticed that the beautiful brownstone retaining walls lining the underpass need work – and soon, too, judging from the wide cracks and significant shifting we saw. Although the underpass is a much safer way to access Riverfront than the grade crossing at the foot of State Street, Bob McCarroll told us not to get our hopes up about public parking there since the lot which he says is owned by Peter Pan and is only used for parking until they decide to build something on it.

We were heartened by the many walkers and joggers we saw all along the trail including an airline pilot in town overnight taking a jog, groups of workers from downtown (including Dwight Street) on noontime strolls, and North End residents walking downtown to work. We distributed handouts that included contact information on them for those responsible for solving trailside problems to as many passersby as we could talk to. We also saw some people who seemed to be homeless (little camp sites and alfresco conversation circles), particularly near and under the ramp over the railroad bridge. Several people told us this is where they have seen people shoot up and have been startled by someone popping up from behind the flood wall.

Accumulations of trash were most apparent north of the ramp over the railroad bridge, particularly near the building used by BID trucks (possibly owned by Peter Pan – a pick-up with their name on it pulled in and unlocked a gate next to a big trash heap) and in the southwest corner of the Farmers’ Market lot where a break in the fence seems to provide access for “midnight dumpers.” Behind the Hot Mama’s Foods, there was a nice gazebo where workers were having lunch, but a picnic table in their large grassy field was inaccessible because the grass was over 12″ high. A big pile of branches and wood was behind the Farmers’ Market lot.

Graffiti was a problem all along the trail, particularly on the flood wall and under Memorial Bridge.

Sheila went on to include some additional information:

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Chris Curtis of the PVPC says that he has a replacement panel for the informational Riverfront Park kiosk. He seems reluctant about installing it since previous panels have been vandalized so often. He responded positively to the idea of the PVPC’s creating an informational webpage for the CT River Walk and Bikeway which Bill Dusty suggested might include a pdf for their brochure. It was interesting that, a few minutes later, one of the trail users we spoke with asked if information about the trail is on the web. Apparently, the PVPC has no budget for producing leaflets in quantity, but that from time to time they have printed them and placed them in one of the downtown health clubs. Chris also suggested once more that our group join the [inactive] Friends of the CT River Walk and Bikeway.

Planning Department
Phil Dromey will print some of the PVPC leaflets once he gets the pdf from Chris; Phil will email Chris to request it. Phil will get back to us with information about how many he will be able to print on the city’s high quality printer. (Any volunteers for pedaling the leaflet around to hotels, offices, the VIC, health clubs, etc?) Phil and Scott Hanson will also visit the trail to see some of the problem spots we saw today, e.g. the junk piles, homeless camps, etc.

Police
We saw a greater police presence on the bikeway today: a) a cruiser entered Riverfront Park as our group was gathering at 11:00, b) two officers were seen eating lunch in their cruiser parked under Memorial Bridge c) a cruiser pulled up alongside of me when I was walking from Riverfront Park to the overpass near LA Fitness to warn me that a thunderstorm was predicted and that I’d be smart to find cover.

Publicity
An short piece about the bike trail has been posted on the FPCA website (www.forestparkca.com). The same text also appeared in today’s (Tuesday) Forest Park Farmers’ Market Newsletter.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on May 28th, 2008 and filed under Cities & Towns, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.