Bristol Borough Council has given the green light to fund the Maple Beach Trail project.
Earlier this month, the council approved a $286,866 bid from J and B Construction to do the work.
A $250,000 grant, the borough received, covers most of the project’s cost, officials said.
The plan is to extend the trail from the new Maple Beach bridge to the waterfront parking lot and add 10 parking spaces on Maple Beach Road, officials said.
It’s a $300,000-plus program that’s costing us under $100,000 ($36,000 to be exact). It makes no sense to turn this money down,” Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe explained prior to members voting on the motion to award J and B the contract
The extra parking spaces will serve both trail users and street festival attendees, Borough Engineer Amanda Fuller said.
“It’s for trail users who want to start at that location. They can access the D&L trail or the East Coast Greenway. It also helps with festival parking,” said Fuller, adding that the 10 extra parking spaces could reduce overflow elsewhere when needed.
The timing of the work at the trail was not available as of publication time.
The borough had a new bridge constructed and installed in Maple Beach last year. The old crossing was in total disrepair with chunks of concrete missing from its’ crossing span. Access to the bridge and Maple Beach by motorists currently remains restricted. Borough officials did say there would be a ceremony in the future celebrating the opening of the bridge.
Bristol received a grant for just under $344 K from Bucks County in 2017 to improve access to the bridge area for pedestrians. Those funds plus about $900 K in state and federal funding and a $1 million dollar donation from the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority made as part of purchasing Bristol’s sewer plant and system also offset rebuild costs for the bridge and area cleanup.
Credit: Jeff Bohen, Lower Bucks Source