BELFAST, Maine -– After more than a decade, the Belfast Harbor Walk will soon be complete when the two ends of the walkway are joined.
That’s part of the final phase of the project which began around 2010. The Belfast Public Works department is fixing issues with the deteriorating sidewalk as well as adding an additional pathway and light posts on a previously unconstructed portion of the Harbor Walk.
Concrete pavement is being replaced with asphalt as the walkway is expanded from 6 feet wide to 10 feet wide, according to Public Works Director Bob Richards.
The old sidewalk through Steamboat Landing Park was first installed by the now-defunct credit-card lender MBNA when they built the park and the Boathouse — both deeded to the city of Belfast.
Over the years, the cement has broken apart with potholes and the bricks have loosened, Richards said.
“The cement was all out of whack,” Richards said. “The cement and the bricks that were there is a trip hazard.”
He said public works has been doing patch work on the sidewalk for years as well as fielding complaints, but it has gotten increasingly difficult to maintain.
“We didn’t want people losing their footing down there,” City Manager Erin Herbig said. “It was really time.”
The new portion of the Harbor Walk passes across waterfront property, which became a public easement two years ago, owned by Paul Naron. The easement’s finalization followed a year-long dispute with the Belfast City Council over Naron’s desire to develop his waterfront property and the council’s concerns over maintaining public access to the entirety of the Harbor Walk.
The construction, which began Monday, is estimated to take two weeks, but weather could delay things, Richards said. In the meantime, the Harbor Walk will be closed intermittently.
