AIPC

Trail along bay is part of island's West Side plan

Trail along bay is part of island's West Side plan
Friday July 11, 2008
By Matt Sheley
Newport Daily News staff

Aquidneck Island will have a new trail by the end of the month.

The thing that makes this one a little different is that it’s almost completely on the water.

The Narragansett Bay Blue Trail, off the west side of the island, will be the first tangible project to emerge from the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission’s West Side Master Plan, a document intended to help shape the future of the 5,000-acre area spanning north from Newport into Middletown and Portsmouth.

“This is the first actual proposal part of the West Side Master Plan to move forward,” said Robert Quigley, chairman of the West Side Task Force and a member of the Portsmouth Planning Board. “Recreation is very important to the people of the island and this is another great opportunity to enjoy it.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Monday morning at the Weaver Cove boat ramp on Burma Road, one of two locations in Portsmouth that will be dedicated as launches for the trail. The other is off Cory’s Lane. Informational kiosks will be placed at both locations.

Planning commission members said there are plans for other island launches, including one being discussed off Greene Lane in Middletown and one at the former Naval Hospital property on Third Street in Newport.

“We’re starting to see more and more of these trails around the country,” said Tina Dolen, executive director of the nonprofit commission, which has offices on East Main Road in Portsmouth. “There’s tremendous interest in these non-traditional recreational trails.”

The master plan was released in November 2005 and endorses strategic economic development, promotes affordable housing and transportation upgrades, encourages preserving historic neighborhoods and green spaces and calls for the creation of new public parks and a fishing pier at the old Midway Pier in Middletown.

Dolen credited the Rhode Island Blueways Alliance and the National Park Service for their work in making the local blue trail a reality. The effort also got major financial support from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Prince Charitable Trusts.“I know people that fish from kayaks here,” said Arthur S. Weber Jr., chairman of the planning commission’s board of directors and member of the Middletown Planning Board. “They’ll catch 40-, 50-pound striped bass in places you can’t get to on foot or in a traditional boat, so this is one of just a whole variety of recommendations in the master plan that should offer recreation to the people of Aquidneck Island.”

Friday July 11, 2008

By Matt Sheley
Newport Daily News staff

Aquidneck Island will have a new trail by the end of the month.

The thing that makes this one a little different is that it’s almost completely on the water.

The Narragansett Bay Blue Trail, off the west side of the island, will be the first tangible project to emerge from the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission’s West Side Master Plan, a document intended to help shape the future of the 5,000-acre area spanning north from Newport into Middletown and Portsmouth.

“This is the first actual proposal part of the West Side Master Plan to move forward,” said Robert Quigley, chairman of the West Side Task Force and a member of the Portsmouth Planning Board. “Recreation is very important to the people of the island and this is another great opportunity to enjoy it.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Monday morning at the Weaver Cove boat ramp on Burma Road, one of two locations in Portsmouth that will be dedicated as launches for the trail. The other is off Cory’s Lane. Informational kiosks will be placed at both locations.

Planning commission members said there are plans for other island launches, including one being discussed off Greene Lane in Middletown and one at the former Naval Hospital property on Third Street in Newport.

“We’re starting to see more and more of these trails around the country,” said Tina Dolen, executive director of the nonprofit commission, which has offices on East Main Road in Portsmouth. “There’s tremendous interest in these non-traditional recreational trails.”

The master plan was released in November 2005 and endorses strategic economic development, promotes affordable housing and transportation upgrades, encourages preserving historic neighborhoods and green spaces and calls for the creation of new public parks and a fishing pier at the old Midway Pier in Middletown.

Dolen credited the Rhode Island Blueways Alliance and the National Park Service for their work in making the local blue trail a reality. The effort also got major financial support from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Prince Charitable Trusts.“I know people that fish from kayaks here,” said Arthur S. Weber Jr., chairman of the planning commission’s board of directors and member of the Middletown Planning Board. “They’ll catch 40-, 50-pound striped bass in places you can’t get to on foot or in a traditional boat, so this is one of just a whole variety of recommendations in the master plan that should offer recreation to the people of Aquidneck Island.”