Contract Approved For Fish Pier Walkway, Final Element In Bulkhead Improvement Project

CHATHAM – The final element of the project upgrading the south jog area of the municipal fish pier should be completed before summer visitors start arriving at the town’s most popular tourist attraction.

 The select board approved a contract for a pedestrian walkway along the south jog pier at its Jan. 13 meeting. The walkway will keep pedestrians separate from an area where fishing boats are offloaded and safely direct them to the public dock at the end of the pier.

 Most of the work upgrading the south jog bulkhead was completed in 2023, but the walkway was separated from the rest of the project due to permitting delays, according to Natural Resources Director Greg Berman. In the meantime, a temporary walkway was created that was separated from the work area by jersey barriers.

 Widening the work area on the south jog pier will help improve productivity by allowing two trucks to work at the same time, said Harbormaster Jason Holm. With some 50,000 visitors a month during the peak summer season, “it’s almost impossible” to keep people away from the area, he said.

 “This will help keep them out of the working area and give them safe access to the south jog,” he said of the new walkway. A concrete wall that is already in place will separate the work area from the pedestrian walkway, which will be set on pilings.

 The work will be done by ACK Marine and General Contracting at a cost of $596,445. The money will come from the 2017 waterfront infrastructure bond, an $11 million appropriation that funded several major waterfront projects, including the south jog bulkhead upgrade. The bond has $2,212,347 available, largely due to savings that are the result of grants that underwrote some of the waterfront infrastructure projects, including $3.8 million in state grants and community preservation funds that went toward the $11 million 90 Bridge St. project. 

 The $1.6 million that will remain available after the fish pier walkway project will serve as a “kind of safety net” for the Bridge Street project, Berman said, should additional funding be needed. The money could also be used for other waterfront projects, subject to town meeting appropriation, he added.

 Board members praised ACK for its work on the Stage Harbor trap dock, which was completed “fast and under budget,” noted chair Dean Nicastro.

 “I’m glad this is coming to a conclusion,” said board member Stuart Smith, the town’s former harbormaster. Together with a pedestrian walkway along the pier access road, “this certainly will improve public safety,” he said.

 The work should be done by the end of April, Berman said, in plenty of time for the summer season.