(9.25) The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council has collaborated with Gotham Greens and the City of Providence to add a new stretch to the Greenway. The people behind this effort will be celebrating Monday afternoon with a ribbon cutting ceremony and some speechifying.
The new Gotham Greens path offers new access to the Woonasquatucket River and will serve as a connector between the Woonasquatucket River Greenway and the Washington Secondary Bike Path. For now it runs from DeSoto Street to Atwells Avenue, with a little pocket park at the elbow with benches for resting or contemplation.
Senator Jack Reed initiated the EPA’s Southern New England Program (SNEP), which fosters collaboration among regional partners across southeast New England’s coastal watersheds to protect and restore water quality, ecological health, and diverse habitats. . .
The second phase of improvements, currently underway, is funded in part by the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF). This second phase focuses on streambank restoration and “Green Infrastructure,” which is the installation of plants, soil, and other natural materials to manage stormwater and prevent flooding and pollution. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse created the NCRF to serve as dedicated funding to help communities prepare for rising waterways and more intense storms caused by climate change.
You can thank Senators Whitehouse and Reed on Monday. They are among the dignitaries — along with the Governor, the Mayor, Darcy Young of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, and representatives from RIDOT, RIDEM, and the EPA — tasked with giving short, entertaining speeches.
There is a parking lot and plenty of parking on Harris Avenue. Gotham Greens is just down from where Harris intersects with Atwells Avenue and Eagle Street. You could walk to Nolan’s Pub from there and you should.
Ribbon cutting, 1:30pm, Monday, September 25, Gotham Greens, 555 Harris Avenue, (directions)
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Gotham Greens on the right. Atwells Avenue straight ahead.
The Gotham Greens greenhouses are kind of gorgeous on a gray, drizzly day.