Bissonnette reveals plans for River Walk
Date: 10/24/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — As Mayor Michael Bissonnette walked along a stretch of the partially constructed river walk along the Chicopee River, he had the perfect visual to underscore his point of the value of the project: a young bald eagle gracefully circled overhead.
Along side an urban neighborhood will be an area of woods and water, he said.
"When you look down the Chicopee River, you can see what the Indian saw," Bissonnette said.
Bissonnette announced the city would complete the river walk path from Grape Street past the public library and to the site of the former Uniroyal facility. He would like to carry the path to the back door of the new senior center.
He added that since the Iron Horse Preservation Society has already removed the rails and ties and graded the path with gravel at no cost to the city — people are already using it.
The 2.5-mile path runs along Front Street from Canal Park across from City Hall to Chicopee Falls.
The mayor said all of the credit for the idea and the advocacy of the project should go to City Councilor William Zaskey. Zaskey explained to Reminder Publications that he first began speaking about the project in 1980. He formed a committee to advance the project in 1996 and has been working towards its completion ever since.
He recalled with a smile that as a boy growing up in the neighborhood he would steal down to the tracks to watch the trains, an activity of which his mother didn't approve.
Zaskey explained that a big problem preventing the completion of the river walk was the ownership of the rail line. Once that was settled, the city could move forward.
The construction costs of the second section of the walk will be funded by a federal grant of $1.6 million, Bissonnette explained. No taxpayer dollars have been used in developing the river walk, he added.
Bissonnette is hoping to start construction next spring with completion in 2014. Slope stabilization is an important part of the process as will be clearing brush for improved visibility of the river. The mayor added that there would be access points for fishing.
He invited residents to attend upcoming advisory group meetings to voice their opinion on the river walk.
