Marsha Cambridge said she really likes the improvements made to the path that circles the lake at Centennial Park.
“I walk my dog here three or four times a week, and the old path was uneven and it was sometimes too narrow when there were several people using it at the same time,” the Englewood woman said. “The new path is concrete. It is wide enough so several people can use it at the same time and it’s nice and smooth. My dogs particularly like the fact it is smooth.”
Work on improvements in Centennial Park, located at Union Avenue and Decatur Street, has been under way since early May, but the proposal for the work dates back to 2006.
“The path and bank improvements were listed as future projects in the 2006 parks master plan to make it safer for park users and to bring the path up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards,” Dave Lee, open space manager, said. “There was never money available for the project until this year when Englewood successfully applied for a grant from the Arapahoe Open Space Fund for $237,000 and supplied matching funds of about $144,000 to cover the cost of the work.”
A major portion of the project involved removing the old asphalt path that varied in width from six to eight feet and was cracked in places and buckling from tree roots in other places. The project replaced the old path with a new concrete path that is 10 feet wide.
Also, the necessity of meeting ADA standards required removal on the arched bridge over the pond on the west end of the park. It was replaced a flat bridge which will provide easier ADA access to the fishing dock on the west shore of the lake.
“The path was popular with dog walkers, joggers and anglers,” Lee said. “I think we’ll see more traffic on the path because of the improvements.”