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Section of bike path to remain closed for two weeks

A section of Riverhead Town’s popular walking trail and bike path at the Enterprise Park at Calverton will remain closed to the public through Aug. 3 while maintenance work is done at the Navy’s treatment facility there, according to Supervisor Yvette Aguiar. 

The closure, which began Monday, specifically affects a one-mile section of the nine-mile EPCAL trail, starting at the west gate of the Navy Treatment Facility and running east along River Road up to the railroad tracks.

The west gate will remain closed and locked until work is completed. Barricades will be placed on the eastern side of the Navy Treatment Facility, along with signage advising of the closure, according to officials.

The treatment facility is part of the Navy’s effort to clean up the groundwater contamination caused by the Navy and the Grumman Corporation’s operations at the site, where fighter jets were built and tested.

The land was given to the town by the Navy in September 1998 in order to compensate for jobs that were lost when Grumman — then known as Northrup-Grumman — moved its operations to Florida. 

Grumman had been located at Calverton from 1956 to 1996. 

The walking trail and bike path — officially known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Trail — originally formed a security perimeter for Grumman.

Work on the path began in 2008 and was completed in June 2019.