Things may be looking a little greener around the Bronx Zoo, come the summer 2013.
The construction of a new Greenway that will link E. 180th Street and Birchall Avenue and run past the Bronx Zoo will begin later this spring and is to be completed by the summer of 2011.
According to Zachary Feder, a press officer for New York City Parks, the project will provide a safe and scenic route for pedestrians, bicyclists and roller bladers.
Construction plans for the project include a new path, fencing, lighting and landscaping.
The total budget for the project is $3.19 million.
According to Feder, funds for the project are being provided by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Municipal Water Finance Authority, in connection with the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Facility.
Dotti Poggi, of the friends of Ferry Point Park, said she is excited about the Greenway project.
“I used to walk on that path many years ago with a friend and we used to bird watch very early in the morning around 6 a.m.,” Poggi said. “Back then it was a free path that actually ran along one side of the Bronx Zoo. It was actually in the woods. During the early morning we would go there and see a bunch of birds that are not typically found in the Bronx.”
Poggi said that herehope in looking toward the future, is that there will be a Greenway that will connect the entire Bronx and people from Ferry Point Park will be able to get to the Bronx Zoo and vice versa.
“I think by bridging neighborhoods, we will bring more diversification to Ferry Point Park as well as other areas in the Bronx,” Poggi said.
