NEWBURYPORT — On March 2, 2026, the Newburyport City Council voted to approve about $1.8 million in funding for reconstruction of sections of the city’s waterfront boardwalk, a project intended to address deteriorating conditions along the heavily used public walkway.
Councilors accepted a $1.49 million grant from the Seaport Economic Council and authorized an additional $285,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to help finance the work.
During the meeting, Ward 1 Councilor Sharif Zeid said the project was necessary because the existing boardwalk has developed safety issues over time.
“The boardwalk of course runs across the river and goes by the new waterfront park and beyond,” Zeid said during the meeting. “This project is to improve the condition of it, which unfortunately has had a lot of boards that are raised, a lot of public safety hazards and so forth.”
The proposed plan calls for a partial reconstruction of the structure. According to Zeid, boards from sections at both ends of the boardwalk would be removed and evaluated for reuse, while new composite decking would be installed in other areas.
“They will essentially pull up the boards on the final third toward Oldies [Marketplace], and the first third, which is more toward the other end of the boardwalk,” Zeid said. Later adding, “From those boards, the consultants that have looked at each board feel that there are a certain number of boards that can be reused. And so, those boards that are removed would be put aside for a moment, and then in the middle of those two spaces, the very bad boards would be removed and replaced with these boards…And so, therefore, they would be replaced with a new material, composite to be specific, not a replacement of the material that’s there now, which is a hardwood.”
Zeid said the hybrid approach was selected after alternative approaches were considered, including rebuilding the entire boardwalk with composite materials.
“They estimate that would be more like $2.9 million versus $1.8 million,” Zed said, referring to the full composite replacement option. Zeid said the roughly $1.8 million project would be funded through a combination of a $1.49 million Seaport Economic Council grant, $285,000 in Community Preservation Act funds and $50,000 from the Waterfront Trust approved several weeks earlier.
Following the discussion, the council voted unanimously to accept the Seaport Economic Council grant and authorize the additional Community Preservation Act funding needed to complete the reconstruction project.
