If you’re dead set on going through Canonchet and you don’t want to connect the bike path to town then go first rate. And if you have the money use the old bed of the Seaview Railroad. The Seaview Railroad was an electric line that came to Narragansett from East Greenwich. Passengers rode to Narragansett on an electric trolley which followed a route that today parallels Route 1A. The Seaview crossed Boston Neck Rd in the vicinity of Envine Estates in the north end of Narragansett. From there it went west, across fields, through the woods, to the shore line of Pettaquascutt Cove. It hugged the coast south to a water crossing over Narrow River west of Sprague Bridge. This particular section, short of the water crossing, is currently under study by the RI DOT to determine the feasibility of using that route again as bike path. Logistically speaking, the section of right of way under consideration, begins on the north side of Sprague Bridge, cuts through the Chafee Wildlife Preserve, across Middlebridge Rd, to the neighborhood of Mettatuxet; a few miles ahead to the northeast. This is a very beautiful ROW that follows along Pettaquascutt Cove and is used today as power easement by National Grid.
In its day, the Seaview, in Narragansett, had two water crossings both on pilings, the first mentioned over Narrow River (west of Sprague Bridge), and a longer span over Pettaquascutt Cove to a landing on the north edge of what is today Canonchet Farm. Once on the Canonchet property, the bed came along the marsh riding on an elevated bed of fill. The last stretch travelled through a heavily wooded area, parallel to Riverside Drive, before the line terminated behind, what is today, the Narragansett Community Center, but was back in the day, the junction of the Narragansett Pier Rail Road. You can’t make this stuff up? Remnants of the Seaview Railroad are still visible throughout Narragansett, in the old pilings west of Sprague Bridge and in sections of undisturbed rail bed that still lie in the woods from the Narragansett Community Center to the North Kingstown town line.
In Sprague Park, where the Seaview joined the NPRR, was a switch or some kind of other contraption to turn the trains around so the Seaview could head back north to East Greenwich. There were other trains coming and going, a busy railroad intersection, so a section of track had to be built to allow trains to park and wait out locomotives that continued business as usual. That section of ‘parking track’ is still there, an elevated bed behind the Sprague Park playground. You can still see the old bed from the west end of Wanda St. The power line goes straight ahead along the edge of Sprague Park, behind the playground, to the dirt road (Right of Way) adjacent to the Sprague Pond. This is very confusing and I’m just saying there are elevated beds all over that property. Unfortunately there was no direct route, by rail, to the beach. But before the Seaview line crossed Pettaquascutt Cove, it did skirt, 20 feet away, a high piece of upland ground in Canonchet. This can easily be connected to the beach by using the old farmer’s road behind the South County Museum. We are talking ¾ of a mile of ice proof boardwalk, $1, 200,000 +/- and excavation of a section of trail from the edge of the marsh to the museum. From the museum Ann Hoxie Lane can be used, which is a gravel roadway chained off nine months out of the year? It’s hard to believe that Ann Hoxie Lane isn’t used today by bikers? It’s a beautiful road by the museum that begins at the town beach and comes out on the end of Strathmore St, less than ¼ mile from Sprague Park. You should remember that Wanda or Strathmore Streets might not be the first choice but it could be a route that is in overnight to at least give riders an alternative route to the beach from the end of Phase 3?
There’s also the issue of getting across Lake Canonchet, (Pier Pond), using the small bridge that’s across the street from the Narragansett town beach. You have to understand that on a summer day the bridge is filled with two way car traffic, people on foot, all crowding that access point trying to get to the beach parking on the west side of 1A. The bridge is 15 feet wide. All I’m saying is that for three months this area is a real mess and the lack of bike parking and the increase in traffic over that bridge shouldn’t be ignored by planners. But there is not a more beautiful route through Canonchet with unobstructed year round views of the cove. Once again this is a route that allows you to use an area that already undergone, in the past, a high degree of disruption to the landscape. Whether it’s possible to continue the Seaview north over Pettaquascutt Cove and onward to the North Kingstown Line is for time to decide. At least the option would be in place for the next generation to continue the bike path north. Did I mention rails to trails?

The angle that often gets short-changed in these analyses is economic benefit. Health and environmental benefits are certainly noble goals, but folks who could care less about cycling should also be happy to see the improved retail climate and boost to property values that typically accompanies a solid investment in non-motorized transportation infrastructure.

Hope there's a part 2 to this study with some of that learning.

Good afternoon,

A closed segment of the East Bay Bike Path, from Veterans Memorial Parkway to Riverside Square in East Providence, is scheduled to open on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. It has been closed since last fall for City of East Providence sewer construction.

Any questions about the project can be directed to the City of East Providence’s engineering consultant, Steve Small of AECOM, at 401-680-5994.

Regards,
Charles

Charles E. St. Martin III
Chief of Information and Public Relations
Rhode Island Department of Transportation
2 Capitol Hill – Room 239
Providence, RI 02903

Some email chatter on the NBW list indicated that the path was passable during the day, though there are workers still on it, some railings are still missing and landscaping to be done. The path paving was reported as complete.