Action Public Spaces-1.1: New Public Access
Full Action Statement
Assess, prioritize, and support plans and projects to expand public access to waterways, natural areas, and urban green spaces.
Action Description and Statement of Need
This Action will develop science to inform the creation of new public access to waterways, natural areas, and urban green spaces across the region. This information can help inform the design of access points that are resilient to storms, responsive to potential ecological impacts from overuse (Narragansett Bay Estuary Program 2021), and deliver more access through community-centered siting and design.
There are hundreds of natural parks, thousands of urban green spaces, and hundreds of miles of bikeways open to the public; there are hundreds of saltwater access points and thousands for freshwater throughout the region. While most residents in the Narragansett Bay region live within a mile of a waterway and open green space, easy access is still a challenge for some, creating the need to strategically prioritize new and upgraded public access points to these natural amenities.
Hundreds of years of development, industry, and shifting policies have limited access to water and natural lands, sometimes by physical obstruction, sometimes due to polluted waters, sometimes by legal right. Areas with working waterfronts, shoreline armoring, and privatization restrict certain types of use. Rivers and streams have been dammed and completely paved over, hiding and limiting their amenities. Designating new access points or restoring historical access is a challenge as many agencies and departments within state and local governments and often private landowners may be involved (Smith 2023).
Growth and shifts in population centers and recreational preferences also leave gaps in fair access. Travel time, transportation, parking availability, mobility, and non-accessible programming can pose barriers to accessing nature. An individual’s financial resources and the quality of the natural amenities near their home may also impact their access. There are measurable regional disparities in access, with race and ethnicity strongly correlated to travel distance to high quality public coastal amenities (Twichell et al. 2022).
NBEP will develop a new Public Access Indicator and publish a public access database with waterway and green space access sites, fund capacity for project planning for new public access, and support non-governmental organizations, local people, and local and state governments to accelerate projects in areas that lack quality access to nature.
Potential Projects
Create a new State of the Watershed public access indicator that includes access to waterways and natural lands and green spaces and provides decision support for new sites and site improvements.
Fund and support projects and plans that expand access to nature.
Complete and implement plans that increase urban green space and tree canopies.
Outputs
Public Access Indicator
Plans and projects that expand access to waterways using resilient design features
Plans and projects that expand access to greenway trails while restoring habitats
New urban green space plans and projects that provide access to nature
Outcomes
Increased public access to nature
Greater access to urban green spaces and improved quality of neighborhoods
Indicators
Sea Level, Population, Land Use, Open Space, Water Quality Conditions for Recreation, Marine Beaches, Shellfishing Areas, Public Access, Impervious Cover
NBEP role
Fund capacity and projects, Synthesize and communicate science
Implementing Partners
RIDEM, MA DER, Massachusetts DCR, National Park Service, Blackstone Watershed Collaborative, RI CRMC, Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, Taunton River Wild and Scenic Stewardship Council, Save The Bay, Groundwork RI, Groundwork Southcoast, MA EOEEA, SRPEDD, NRICD, TNC-RI, Mass Audubon, Blackstone River Watershed Council, Taunton River Watershed Alliance, RI Land Trust Alliance, municipalities, RI Saltwater Anglers Association
Location
Narragansett Bay region with a focus on areas that have fewer high-quality access sites
Timeline for initiation
Ongoing
Estimated costs/potential funding sources
$5M–10M
NBEP 320/SNEP, SNEP, States