Work began Tuesday on the South Orange Greenway, the stretch connecting Meadowbrook Place and Mead Street, which will become a bicycle and pedestrian path. At the same time, the banks of the river will be relaxed, and invasive weeds will be replaced with native plants, flowers and shrubs. The path will be built on the side closest to the Baird, and a bridge connecting the two banks will be constructed in the middle of the block. In addition, improvements to the Baird's parking lot will be undertaken to make it more environmentally friendly (with some attention to drainage and plantings), and signage about the river's historic and environmental significance will be put up. The project is expected to take a year.

The Village awarded the contract for construction between Meadowbrook and Mead to Tec-Con Construction. An official groundbreaking to be attended by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell—who announced last month that another $400,000 in federal funds will be available for a future phase of Rahway River construction in South Orange—and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo is scheduled for Aug. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

In the meantime, tree and street work may create some delays at the corner of Mead and Meadowbrook. Portable toilets have been installed at the same corner for workers’ use, and the Baird parking lot has several trucks parked in the spaces closest to the river.