Work on phase two of the Marshwalk Extension Project at Lawson Creek Park is nearing completion, according to Colleen Roberts, public information officer for the City of New Bern.
The project will extend the existing marshwalk approximately 300 feet to the water’s edge and include a 10 ft. x 30 ft. fishing platform at the end. Roberts said as of last week Bobby Cahoon Construction had finished the marshwalk from the gazebo through the marsh and to the water’s edge and is currently working on construction of the floating pier at the end.
Weather permitting, the project should take approximately two more weeks to complete, Roberts said.
The three phase Marshwalk Extension Project is funded by a $110,000 Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) grant that requires the city to provide matching funds of $37,000.
The final part of the marshwalk project will be an extension from the fishing platform that will run approximately 500 ft. back to the Lawson Creek Park Drive loop that connects Jack’s Island. The construction of a shelter on Jack’s Island is also planned as part of phase three.
The city built the original Lawson Creek Park marshwalk, a 400 ft. wooden boardwalk that ends in an observation deck, in 1990 with monies from to a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. Though it was damaged during Hurricane Florence in 2018, the city was able to repair the structure at a cost of approximately $80,000.
Roberts said Jack’s Island will be closed for approximately another week while water and sewer crews prepare the area for the connection of an underground pipe already installed beneath Jack’s Island with another pipe coming from Walt Bellamy Drive.
The work is part of a project that includes the installation of a 12-inch sanitary sewer force main that began last 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. The project will include boring approximately 2,3000 ft. underneath the Trent River across to James City.
The work also includes the relocation of a pump station that currently sits on the banks of Lawson Creek that will be installed to handle all of the sanitary sewer.
According to the city’s Water Resources Department, the total project is still on schedule to be completed by spring of 2026.
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.