DEM aims to have Palmer Ave. access to Rocky Point open this summer

Lisa Primiano is hopeful the Palmer Avenue entrance to Rocky Point Park will open for parking and vistas of the park and bay by the summer.

The Department of Environmental Management Director of Planning and Development also disclosed that the DEM has taken another step toward building a new park pier at the site of the old one in starting the permitted process with the Coastal Resources Management Council. Because of the volume of permits requests on the CRMC calendar, she expects it will be a couple of months before it is reviewed, a process that includes public comment.

Primiano said the Palmer Avenue entrance would be gated. Hours when the gates would be opened have not been finalized. Prior to opening the Palmer Avenue entrance, guardrails will be erected to define the parking lot and prevent people from driving across park fields. Primiano said the guardrails are on order. That work is to include an access to the pier area where there would be limited handicapped parking and a dropoff area.

As this access and the pier would be on city property, the city and the state are working on a memorandum of understanding to define the responsibilities of the parties. The mayor’s chief of staff and director of public works, David Picozzi, described the agreement as basic, pointing out that it will require City Council approval.

According to the application filed with the CRMC, remnants of the old pier would be removed and a new wooden one extending 281 feet from shore would be built. It would be T-shaped with a section running parallel to the shore 110 feet. On it would be a structure 36 by 21 feet that would provide shelter and bench seating. As an alternative bid there would be a series of aluminum ramps and gangways to provide access to floating docks for boating access.

Following permitting, the pier would be advertised for bids. An award could be made as soon as this summer with construction being completed next year.

So far this summer season at the park is shaping up to have many of the activities it did last summer, including the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce sponsored 5K and movie nights and the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers fishing camp, Primiano said.

While there are no designs yet, Primiano would like to come up with a park gate that would give it character and make it distinctive. She would like to see the design “mirrored” for other park entrances. She would also like to see the Palmer Avenue entrance more defined and cleaned up.