East Bay Bike Path

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The East Bay Bike Path is a 14.5 mile paved rail trail in Rhode Island.

It stretches from Providence to Bristol along the shoreline of Naragansett Bay, passing through the city of East Providenceas well as the townships of Barrington and Warren.

It is part of the East Coast Greenway and provides access to Colt State Park. It is used annually by 1.1 million people.

[edit] History

The plan for what would become Rhode Island's first major bike path path was approved in April 1983 by Governor Edward DiPrete. It was built from 1987 to 1992, following an abandoned rail bed. The property was acquired and constructed in four phases:

Riverside Square to Barrington County Road (4.17 miles)
County Road, Barrington to Franklin Street, Warren (2.38 miles)
Franklin Street, Warren to Independence Park, Bristol (3.87 miles)
Riverside Square to India Point Park, Providence (3.98 miles)

The completed path was dedicated on May 31, 1992 by Governor Bruce Sundlun.

There are plans to link the East Bay Bike Path with the south tip of the Blackstone River Bikeway, a 48-mile trail, which will link Providence with Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as the Washington Secondary Rail Trail.