Winter work gets new Greenwich boardwalk in place

The newly-upgraded boardwalk at P.E.I. National Park in Greenwich is complete in time for the tourist season.

The Greenwich Dunes Trail is 2.5 kilometres long, including a 700-metre floating boardwalk over a marsh. The boardwalk needed to be replaced because cedar planking had rotted after 20 years.

The new one is made of polyethylene, which was more cost effective and better for the environment.

The work was done over the winter, so it would re-open in time for locals and tourists to use it this summer. Project manager Greg Shaw said access to where the boardwalk starts was one of the biggest hurdles.

"Access was back two to three kilometres back into the trail. We had to take everything in either by hand or with small carts," he said.

"It was a lot of material to come out and it was a lot of material to go back in. That was one of the issues we had along with cold weather and working in the water. Early ice up was also a real serious issue that we ran into."

Jimmy MacAulay of the St. Peter's Area Development Corporation said the P.E.I. National Park at Greenwich is a big draw for the area.

Doing the work in the winter was good for local residents who use it, he said, along with businesses and tourists.

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