Projects to install new water infrastructure and extend the Marshwalk at Lawson Creek Park are expected to continue through the summer, according to information from the City of New Bern.
A project to install a 12-inch sanitary sewer force main began in February. The work will provide redundancy in the city’s sewer infrastructure and flow process from the James City area to the New Bern Wastewater Treatment Plant on Glenburnie Drive.
According to Public Information Officer Colleen Roberts, part of the project includes relocating a pump station that currently sits on the banks of Lawson Creek that will be installed to handle all of the sanitary sewer. James L. Cayton Utilities is the contractor for the project.
The work will also include a boring project in which new water infrastructure will be installed underneath the river from Walt Bellamy Drive to Jack’s Island. According to Roberts, the boring project was scheduled to start in September but the city has since received word that it will now begin in October.
Roberts said the project should be complete by spring of 2026.
The city also plans to use a $147,000 Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) grant to add a 300-foot extension to the Jack’s Island Marshwalk at Lawson Creek Park with a goal of expand fishing opportunities in the area. The plan calls for the Marshwalk to extend towards the water and come around the southeast side of Jack’s Island. A 10’x30’ fishing platform on plastic dock floaters is planned for the end of the extension.
According to Roberts, the CAMA permit cycle for the Marshwalk project was extended from early August to August 27 in order to complete state and federal reviews of the permit application.
Bobby Cahoon Construction, Inc. is the contractor on the project.
Roberts said the Parks and Recreation Department anticipates work on the Marshwalk extension will begin sometime after August 27, pending the outcome of the permit application. The permit states that all work must be completed by August 1, 2024.
Both Jack’s Island and the exiting Marshwalk, which was repaired following Hurricane Florence in 2018, remain open to the public.
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.