Grant Will Give Bristol Waterfront Upgrade

A $1 million grant will help Bristol Borough fix up one of its key gateways.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program awarded a $1 million grant to the borough to update Waterfront Park and the Mill Street Parking Lot in the town’s central business and tourism district.

Borough Manager Jim Dillion said the grant will allow for the entire parking lot to be repaved after decades of wear and tear, including a countless number of flooding incidents from the Delaware River.

The several-hundred car parking lot is filled with potholes and large cracks throughout.

The grant will also pay for stormwater upgrades at the parking lot that will reduce flooding, but Dillion said it likely won’t eliminate all flooding for the parking lot.

Funds will also go toward replacing curbing, improving landscaping, and building a restroom to replace the porta potties that have been in use for several years.

The borough plans to only spend the $1 million included with the grant. The borough will work to make the money go as far as possible, Dillion said.

Work on the upgrades could begin before summer.

“Bristol Waterfront Park is a wonderful place for people to enjoy outdoor activities like fishing and boating and cultural events such as concerts,” said State Rep. John Galloway when announcing the grant. “Its beautiful scenery draws people together and contributes to our sense of community in Bristol. This grant money will help preserve and make it easier for people to take advantage of this great resource.”

Dillion said the grant will be a boost to efforts to improve the area, including recent roadway and pedestrian upgrades, renovations to the pavilion, the new docks, and an updated sound system.

In 2018, Borough Engineer Kurt Schroeder, of Gilmore and Associates, laid out a conceptual proposal to remake the waterfront area and parking lot. The plan showed an amphitheater, paved promenade along the river, an additional boat dock by the marsh, boardwalks in nature areas, a multi-level parking deck to replace the Mill Street Parking Lot, and bulkhead wall along the river. The plan also showed a block of Cedar Street and Wood Street as pedestrian malls in the central business district.

At the time, council members said the plan was just a proposal and would take millions of dollars to pull off.

In the time since, funding for that proposal has not materialized.

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