PEABODY — Rotarians in Peabody are celebrating the completion of a project to improve a section of the Independence Greenway Path that has been four years in the making.
The project involved the installation of several benches, a water station, and trash receptacles along with informational signage along the trail.
Peabody Police Chief and former Rotary President Tom Griffin said the project started in 2020 in honor of Rotary’s 100th anniversary of its founding (1920).
“Leading up to 2020, Rotary set aside up to $100,000 to commemorate 100 years of Rotary and the improvements made sense because with COVID, about the only thing people could do was go outside for a walk or a run and even that was difficult at times,” Griffin said. “We also had some money set aside from Dan Vasallo, who is an avid runner, and Curt Bellavance from City Hall. We knew were fortunate to have walking space from Lahey Hospital all the way to Lowell Street.”
Griffin said club members initially funded the installation of a water station on the Kristen Crowley Trail Spur that starts on Lowell Street and heads towards Danvers behind the Brooksby Village as part of Rotary’s centennial in 2020. With the onset of COVID, things were pretty much in a holding pattern for a period of time.
Over the next four years, additional benches and trash receptacles were installed. The project culminated with the installation of six signs with maps and information about landmarks and history of the area.
Assistant Director of Planning Brendan Callahan said the signage is intended to serve as an informational tool for bike path users highlighting several aspects of the city’s and regions’ history and resources.
“The signage is great, it’s more of a history lesson,” Callahan said .”One of the themes we focused on was the history of Peabody transportation so we were able to highlight the old rail line and the interstate highway system and we also highlighted the history of Peabody farming, particularly in the West Peabody area. There is also signage about Jacob Cemetery near the Marble Meadows conservation area where we talked about the folks who marched in the Revolutionary War from the Bell Inn Tavern to Lexington and Concord, so that was extremely interesting.”
Callahan said two other signs focus on environmental topics, one describing the habitat and vegetation of Marble Meadows and the other on the Ipswich River Watershed area which explores the natural habitat and ecosystem and the different species of wildlife that live in the area.
“It’s really a diverse natural landscape,” Callahan said. “The watershed signage focuses on its value to the city and region and breaks down why the area is of importance for the region and the city.”
Callahan said the final piece in the puzzle is a kiosk that provides a complete map of the greenway complete with distances to other areas of interest along the Border to Boston Trail and the Independence Greenway Trail.
Director of Planning Curt Bellavance said the project is in the 100% design phase now that Mass DOT approved the 75% design. Bellavance said the approximate cost of the 1.2 mile Route 1 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge to Lowell Street connection is $10.4 million. Combined with the 1.4 mile Lahey Clinic/Northshore Mall to Endicott Street Bridge Extension project ($7.3 million), the total cost of both phases of the project is $17.7 million. Construction costs will be funded by the MassDOT TIP program (Transportation Improvement Program.
“We’ll probably get a draft next spring to review and incorporate any changes that need to be made and hopefully will advertise over the summer and go out to bid in the fall of 2025,” Bellavance said. “That represents the last piece of this part of the project.”
Griffin said Rotary isn’t done yet.
“I understand we still have money set aside for Lt. Ross Park to connect to the bike path and then go over Route 1 to Lowell Street,” he said. “We definitely wanted to have a rotary presence on that. It will be wonderful when it all comes to fruition.”
