Berwick council endorses Atchafalaya Gateway Trail concept

Advocates of the area’s walking and biking trails are trying to get St. Mary communities connected. And Berwick, the first municipality with such a trail, is again leading the way.
The Berwick Town Council on July 14 adopted a resolution that would name Morgan City and Berwick as the founding partners in the Atchafalaya Gateway Trail, with the La. 182 bridge as the centerpiece.
The resolution invites other communities to be part of what is conceived as a parishwide network, for which the St. Mary Excel citizens group has advocated.
“Adding one shared Atchafalaya identity alongside them ties the parish together, tells visitors the Atchafalaya begins here, strengthens grant applications, and gives all of us a single story to market — while every trail keeps the name its community gave it,” said Catherine Holcomb of St. Mary Excel.
“It’s something we’re all united behind,” said Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur.
Arthur added, “St. Mary Excel, they’re a hard-working group of ladies.”
The resolution notes that in 2004, the Legislature designated St. Mary Parish as the Gateway to the Atchafalaya Basin.
Berwick was the first St. Mary community to create a dedicated walking trail, and the 4.2-mile paved path is used daily.
Morgan City is developing a trail of its own, with funding from the H&B Young Foundation and a $16.7 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Holcomb noted that Amelia has a mostly finished walking trail, and that the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge maintains established hiking and paddling trails near Franklin, Garden City and Centerville.
Berwick’s resolution asks Patterson, Baldwin, Amelia, Bayou Vista, Charenton, Centerville, Siracusaville and other parish communities to join. Also invited are the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as steward of Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge trails, along with the St. Mary Levee District and the Chitimacha Tribe.
The resolution says the adopting body “authorizes its officials to coordinate the development, branding, maintenance, and promotion of the Atchafalaya Gateway Trail with St. Mary Excel, the Atchafalaya Coastal Hub initiative, the Atchafalaya Trace Commission, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, the Cajun Coast Visitor and Convention Bureau, and other partner agencies and organizations.”
One hint that a connected trail system might be popular was a handful of Saturdays when the La. 182 bridge was closed to vehicles and drew crowds of walkers and bicyclists.
Those popular bridge closures were blocked by an unpopular bridge closure.
The La. 182 bridge was closed in 2023 for what has turned out to be a three-year rehabilitation project by the state.
Local officials have been invited by the Department of Transportation and Development to tour the bridge next month, Arthur said. The latest word is that the bridge could reopen in November.