GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The City of Grand Rapids is constructing more than 4.5 miles of paved walkways to create an expansive Riverwalk, connecting parks and trails along the Grand River.
The trail will stretch from Fulton Street to Riverside Park.
City officials said the primary goal of the Riverwalk is to build a connection throughout the community.
"There's a lot of activity businesses along that river corridor that it can connect people to so whether they want to go to some sort of entertainment event, meet some friends for some food, there's lots of different options for them," Karie Enriquez said.
Enriquez, the parks planning and project manager for the city, said they originally wanted to finish the park near the amphitheater and Canal Park this spring, but the timeline is now pushed back to the fall.
"The big items that we're waiting for are the playground component. It's a specialized, custom playground that is being shipped in. That will go in the summer. Then the new all-season pavilion will go in the early fall," Enriquez said.
Construction crews are currently clearing ground and moving dirt south of Ann Street on Monroe to build a new trail that will help connect downtown to the north side.
"We’re increasing the flood resiliency for that park space, but also adding additional recreation opportunities in there as well," Enriquez said.
The park near the new Acrisure Amphitheater is technically not part of the Riverwalk now, due to a gap south of Fulton. Down the road, a connection could be made through the proposed Three Towers project.
Many residents are already looking forward to utilizing the new pathways.
"Makes me proud to be a Grand Rapidian. I live downtown, so you know, maybe I'll be able to take the walk to work, which was a dream. On a nice day," Joe Pohlen said. "I’m really excited about the river walk. I work down here on Monroe, and I'm excited to use it for walking meetings and just stretching my legs a little bit from a desk job.”
Additionally, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is finishing up a new connection to the river.
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