The Blackstone River Bikeway takes riders through scenic settings, and includes a new boardwalk that crosses over the Lonsdale Marsh, a wildlife habitat that is home to Eastern screech owls and a variety of ducks, and is on the path of migratory heron, swans and ospreys.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

Suddenly it’s summer –– or at least summer-like –– and all at once everyone seems to remember those bicycles that have been gathering dust in the garage all winter. Time to get them out, hose them off, pump up the tires (once you’ve located the tire pump), and get riding.

With the opening last week of a new section at its southern end, the Blackstone River Bikeway grew to just over 10 miles in length, making it — for now — the longest continuous bike path in the state. (That’s a temporary honor, however; the longer East Bay Bike Path is closed from Riverside Square into Barrington while the town replaces its sewer line under the path.)

The new section of the Blackstone path is fun to ride –– a 540-foot wooden boardwalk on stilts that traverses the wildlife habitat of the Lonsdale Marsh. Here you will see a wetland swamp that illustrated plaques tell us is home to Eastern screech owls and a variety of ducks. The boardwalk is 14 feet wide, and makes a good vantage point to see swamp ferns and skunk cabbage sprouting. The marsh is on the migratory path of heron, swans and ospreys. It’s hard to believe that this beautiful natural area had become a dumping ground before the town of Cumberland purchased it and cleaned it up with volunteer efforts.

From the commitment of such volunteers to the support of the state and federal government, the Blackstone River bike path has been a community effort on a grand scale. It has been 10 years since the first part of the bike path opened at the Ashton Viaduct in Lincoln. Some $21 million has been spent so far, with the federal government contributing 80 percent and the state the remaining 20 percent.

The new boardwalk, dedicated on April 28, is part of a $3.9-million segment of the Blackstone path. At the dedication ceremony, it was announced that a volunteer bike patrol from the National Park Service will ride the path offering assistance and information to cyclists.

From the southern end of the boardwalk, you can ride about a mile farther on newly paved neighborhood roads to reach Valley Falls Heritage Park at the Broad Street bridge over the Blackstone River in Cumberland. Some of the roads have bike route signs, some don’t. To stay on the bike route, just follow the new paving. You’ll end up on Meeting Street, which takes you right to the park, where there are picnic tables overlooking the river.

On Monday, bicyclists were having no trouble following the route between the boardwalk and the park. One of them, Philip Paige, said the path is great, “but I wish that more resources were put into extending all the paths around the state, rather than building visitor centers and making the areas around the paths so big that they look like parks.”

He pointed out that along the South County path, “there are so many benches that it’s beginning to look like a memorial park .”

At the end of the roadway bike route, Valley Falls Heritage Park makes a beautiful destination for a bike ride at the south end of the Blackstone bike path. Even though vandals have destroyed the illustrated plaques that once described what viewers are seeing, you can see the stone abutments and iron machinery that once ran the Valley Falls Company Mill. Just upstream, visible beyond the Broad Street Bridge, the Blackstone Valley Explorer and Samuel Slater riverboats (operated by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council) are docked at the Central Falls Landing, where there is plenty of parking (off Madeira Street). From there, you could ride the entire path to Woonsocket.

Other parking options –– just a little farther north –– are in the Front Street Blackstone Bikeway lot or the Lonsdale Drive-In lot, both on Route 123 in Lincoln. From either one, you would head south, toward Valley Falls, to experience the new boardwalk, then double back to go north on the longest section of the Blackstone path.

With its dramatic bridges, dams, old mills and now the boardwalk, the Blackstone River Bikeway is fast becoming a favorite of bike path riders –– especially while parts of the East Bay path are under construction. (The Washington Bridge section, at the north end of the East Bay path, which used to allow riders to cross from East Providence over the Seekonk River to Providence’s India Point Park, has been closed for about a year and will remain closed while highway work is under way.)

The Blackstone bike path is also showing signs of lengthening at its northern end: Work will resume this spring to connect its northern end at the Woonsocket town line to a section that starts in a new park and middle school at the intersection of Davison Street and Hamlet Avenue. This project, which is a joint effort of the Department of Transportation and the City of Woonsocket, will eventually add 1.3 miles to the northern end of the path at a cost of $1.5 million. About a mile of the Woonsocket end is already paved and ride-able, and it’s a lovely ride or walk along the river.

You can’t yet connect this northern portion to the rest of the Blackstone Path, though. DOT spokesman Robert A. Smith, acting deputy chief engineer for design, says, “We estimate that that end will be opened by the end of 2008.” As for extending the southern end of the path beyond Valley Falls Heritage Park, he said, “Right now, we’re studying alternatives to get through Pawtucket.”

The eventual goal has always been to link the Blackstone bike path with the East Bay Bike Path via India Point Park and a projected linear park crossing the Washington Bridge from Providence to East Providence. If that’s done, the bikeway will be the longest in the state.

Says Smith: “We’re in the forefront of most states in implementing these bike paths, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Right now, to access the northern section of the Blackstone bike path, the best place to park is at the Route 295 Visitor Center in Lincoln. From there, you ride down a steep hill to join the path about midway along its length. There is also a bike path parking lot to the north, on the west side of the river in Albion.

To access the southern end (from Providence), take Route 146 north to the Breakneck Hill Road exit and follow Route 123 past the entrance to Lincoln Woods State Park until you see the bikeway lots on the left.

For an update on the State of Rhode Island Bike Paths around the state, see the map and related stories on these pages.

Markers instruct walkers to stay to the left of wheeled traffic.

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The Providence Journal / GLENN OSMUNDSON

Rhode Island’s four main bike paths are already crowded on good-weather weekends, not just with bicyclists but with walkers, dog walkers, Rollerbladers –– even Rollerbladers with dogs. With so many people using the bike paths, the potential for accidents and collisions is ever-present, so the start of the season is a good time for all users of the bike paths to be reminded of the rules.

Confusion arises because the posted signs and painted icons that instruct walkers to “walk in the left lane, facing bicyclists” don’t spell out the rest of the rule, which is that walkers are to stay to the left, close to the grass edge, and make way for oncoming bicyclists.

Just as on an automotive highway, pedestrians are safer if they are facing the oncoming traffic –– but that doesn’t mean that they can walk in the middle of the road.

Rhode Island bike paths were constructed with federal and state highway dollars to be used as an alternative transportation mode for wheeled vehicles, and with gas prices on the rise, more and more people are using them that way.

Bicycles have the right of way in BOTH lanes of the bike paths. Rollerbladers are considered the same as bikes and use the bike lanes. Dogs must be kept on leashes shorter than 6 feet and out of the path of wheeled traffic.Bike to Work Day

To encourage people to ride their bikes to work, Friday, May 16, is National Bike to Work Day.

In Providence, the Providence Bicycle Coalition ( www.bikeprovidence.org) and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation ( www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri/) is hosting a free program of bike information at the Bank of America Skating Rink from 7 to 10 a.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. There will be a free breakfast for cyclists in the morning, and in the afternoon there will be music by Joe Parillo & Friends, demonstrations, giveaways, and exhibits by vendors such as REI, Whole Foods and Starbucks and bicycle groups including the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen ( www.nbwclub.org), the Sierra Club and the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

Useful Web sites for R.I. biking

The best site on the Web for updated information on the bike paths in the state is the Department of Transportation’s Bike RI site, www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri. There you will find printable maps of all the paths, as well as construction information and links to other sites, such as Narragansett Bay Wheelmen ( www.nbwclub.org), which runs free weekly bike rides all over the state, from beginner to expert level.

kimbrie@projo.com