BREWSTER – Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito was in Brewster at Drummer Boy Park Thursday to announce nearly $250,000 in grant funding for four projects to improve trails and outdoor recreational opportunities on Cape Cod.
The grants will fund the enhancement of trails and amenities at the park, construction for sections of the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Dennis and Sandwich and improvements to Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge trails in Chatham.
“The collaboration is the executive office, MassDOT and DCR working together to make sure we are creating strong links of trail so that people can enjoy longer stretches for bicycling or for other activities,” Polito said.
The town of Brewster received a $40,000 grant and almost $30,000 in matching funds to improve Drummer Boy Park by fixing drainage issues and paving a failing stone dust trail to make it accessible for impaired or handicapped individuals. The funding will also help extend the trail network, enhance the overlook area and improve the parking lot.
Dennis will receive $99,105 and $24,800 in matching funds to fund bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements at the Cape Cod Rail Trail’s crossing at South Gages Road. The improvements will provide increased sight distance at the crossing and pedestrian activated beacons to alert drivers of crossing foot traffic.
Sandwich will also use $100,000 in grants and $946,986 matching funds to provide an engineering design of a five-mile link of the Cape Cod Rail Trail through the town. This segment is part of the town’s plan to provide a safe, scenic, and convenient route into Sandwich Village and the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway.
Lastly, Friends of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge were awarded $10,640 in grant funding and $5,150 in matching funds to work closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to upgrade and improve the Boardwalk Trail’s observation areas in Chatham. The improvements include re-grading and re-surfacing two popular overlook areas, and the replacement of four interpretive panels along the Boardwalk Trail.
“We have a lot of trails all throughout the Commonwealth but they don’t connect to each other and that is what we are trying to fill – fill those gaps,” Polito said.
The Baker-Polito Administration also announced $2 million in the capital budget to enable the Department of Conservation and Recreation to extend the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Wellfleet to its recently acquired Paine Campground.
Polito said investing in trail infrastructure is important on Cape Cod because it is a major asset for tourism.
“For you to be able to advertise and promote a rail trail that connects the entire Cape just think of how many families would love to come here and enjoy that asset for the week or so that they are here,” Polito said.
By the end of the year the state will have added seven miles of Cape Cod Rail Trail.
The grants were funded by the federal Recreational Trails Program funds and state capital funds from an Environmental Bond Bill.
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