NEWBURYPORT — Folks who have taken time to walk the Peter J. Matthews Boardwalk along the waterfront over the summer are well aware of areas featuring splintering and uneven boards of wood.
Now as local officials have recently completed a feasibility study to ensure one of the city’s most important attractions remains in good shape, Mayor Sean Reardon recently posted that a more immediate fix is in the near future.
“We’ve just signed a contract with a company to fix the boards that are sticking up and causing tripping hazards. They’ll be drilling them down properly – something our great DPS crew isn’t equipped to do,” Reardon said in a recent Facebook page post, referring to the Department of Public Services.
Originally built in the late 1970s, the boardwalk was redecked and extended in 2002, and while it appears to be in good shape structurally, portions of the decking have not weathered as well as anticipated. An increasing number of boards are warping, flaking and causing trip hazards that have required annual maintenance by the Waterfront Trust and DPS, according to a statement from the city.
Walking along the boardwalk provides proof of that statement, there is a network of raised planks and patch jobs throughout.
Looking to address this, the city obtained a Community Preservation Act grant earlier this year to complete a feasibility study to inventory and assess the issues with both the surface decking and the subsurface structure, identify alternatives for short- and long-term repairs and improved maintenance, and provide cost estimates, permitting requirements and a timeline as well as potential funding sources.
The city contracted with a marine engineering firm, GEI Consultants, for the study.
Senior Project Manager Geordie Vining has said they hope to have a community meeting by early November to share the results.
In his post, Reardon said they have identified two possible funding sources, the Seaport Economic Council Grant and Community Preservation Act funding under the recreation category as possibilities to pursue as laid out by the study.
“By combining these two funding sources, we can replace the boardwalk and shore up our waterfront for the next 25 years without impacting your taxes. That’s what leadership is all about – working together to maintain and improve what we have in the most fiscally responsible way,” Reardon said in his post.
Taking a break from walking her small 15-year-old dog, Charlie, Newburyport resident Virginia Curtis said she was happy to hear the city would be contracting to get the boards drilled down.
“There’s definitely been a few loose boards, and there were even a couple that were missing pieces. There was one right in the middle of the boardwalk. I think they probably had coned it off – at the end, too. So, I mean, that’s great if they’re doing some repair,” Curtis said.
She said she has had some close calls herself.
“There were a couple times I was walking with my flip-flops over the summer, you step on a board and it kind of comes up, and it caught me off guard. I was like, ‘Oh man.’ Because we walk it every day, you kind of know where to avoid. But you get a lot of people who are not from around here that come to visit,” Curtis said.
Also out walking his dog, a shepherd Chihuahua mix named Ruthie, was Newburyport resident Kevin Burrell, who said he was happy action was being taken.
“It’s pretty obvious that things need fixing. I kind of wondered actually what the town has planned for it,” he said.
Burrell said he realizes the city has worked to address it over the years, pointing to patched areas, but said a long-term solution is clearly needed.
“It looks like they’ve been working on it over the years – you’ve seen them fixing the odd board or two –but right now, some of these are just kind of beyond repair. So it’s nice to hear that they have some plans in place,” Burrell said.
Reardon and Vining did not respond to requests for comment in time for this report.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.