PEABODY — The Kristen Crowley Memorial Trail is once again open to the public after a six-week closure to allow for the completion of a drainage-improvement project at the trailhead, Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr.’s office announced.
“During the past six weeks, some significant drainage improvements were completed on the trail,” Bettencourt said in a statement. “These will lessen the effects of trail erosion and eliminate ponding issues which had affected the area.”
The city used funding through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Shared Streets and Spaces grant program to complete the renovation. General contractor T. Ford oversaw the work, which Bettencourt’s office said included the construction of swales along the trail in areas of consistent flooding and erosion; drainage upgrades along the path in areas of persistent ponding; upgrades to mitigate trail erosion from overhead drainage; and recompacting and resurfacing of the trail.
The Kristen Crowley Trail is a spur of the East Coast Greenway, which connects 15 states, and 450 cities and towns, and spans 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida.
The trail is named after Kristen Crowley, a Peabody woman who was murdered in 1996. The city sought to honor Crowley’s memory by dedicating the trail to her, with Bettencourt, whose father served as the lead detective on the case, leading the charge. The entrance to the trail sits on Lowell Street, and runs behind the complex where Crowley once lived.
