Town Board Okays First Steps for Pedestrian Bridge to Riverside

Town officials came together Tuesday to discuss plans for a new Peconic River pedestrian bridge and maritime trail planned on county owned land that aims to help revitalize the Riverside area.

The pedestrian bridge would link Riverhead and Riverside and would begin near McDonald's on Flanders Road.

Vince Taldone, president of the Riverside, Flanders and Northampton Community Association, who addressed the Riverhead town board on Thursday along with Southampton Deputy Town Supervisor Frank Zappone, said the proposed bridge was only one component of an overall revitalization plan for a blighted section of town just off the Riverside traffic circle.

Park improvements, he said, are already being, with a study commenced by the county for possible sewering, necessary to kick off commercial expansion.

The board discussed the possible reconfigurations pitched by the county in regard to redesigning the Riverside traffic circle. The goal, both Taldone and Zappone said, is for Riverhead and Southampton to work together.

"Whatever we can do to revitalize Riverside will enhance what's going on in downtown Riverhead," Zappone said. "It's a complementary effort."

Taldone and Zappone asked the board for a letter of support for a grant application for $1.145 million that would be used for the pedestrian bridge only.

The board agreed to the letter. The grant funding will help to pay for a design study, Zappone said.

"A rising tide lifts all boats. If this helps Flanders and Riverside, our adopted hometown, it's wonderful," Supervisor Sean Walter said.

Councilman John Dunleavy had a question about the height of the bridge and whether or not boats could navigate beneath it.

Taldone said the bridge would be 24 feet above the median high tide and high enough for boats to pass underneath.

The board also discussed other future possibilities to revitalize the blighted area around the traffic circle, including traffic mitigation solutions and a possible new owner for the shuttered diner near the circle or a supermarket on 2.4 acres available on Lake Avenue.

Sewering was also discussed. Walter said Riverhead has been approached to sewer the area but the problem was that to do so, the town's sewer district would need to be extended, with Riverhead town overseeing the operation, something he said three Southampton town board members said would never happen.

Also, Walter said, "We've been on the losing end for a long time," with more than 50 percent of the waste in the town's scavenger waste plant coming from Southampton, including the court and jail.

Another issue, he said, is that Riverhead is upgrading its sewer treatment plant on a parcel too small to add Riverside to the mix.

Zappone said if the area is to be revitalized in any "significant way, some solution would have to be found."

Southampton might have to sewer the area, Walter said,

The parcel that would be purchased from the county for the new bridge and trail would be sited on the 14 acres of waterfront property sold by developer Dede Gottheif to the county. Initially, the property was slated for use for the Rivercatwalk project, which would have included a hotel and conference center.

Last week, Suffolk County passed the resolution authorizing a grant application for the project on Monday by a unanimous 16 to 0.

The goal would be to embrace a maritime theme and also, improve physical conditions and highlight the area's natural resources to enhance Riverside's image and quality of life.

In addition, according to the resolution, plans would be implemented to transform Route 24 into a "scenic Maritime Corridor," and "not just a highway to relieve congestion in Riverhead."

The goal would be to promote mixed-use residential and low-scale commercial development with a recreational and maritime theme along the Peconic and enhance the area's image as a walkable community.