Lights line the Astoria Riverwalk near the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Improved lighting is planned for the Astoria Riverwalk from Mill Pond to Uppertown, emphasizing a need for safety and visibility on the city’s signature waterfront trail.

But the construction will only extend to 34th Street.

David House, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said the grant-funded project, which was initially supposed to illuminate the Riverwalk to 39th Street, has been scaled back due to budget constraints.

“An additional phase of lighting beyond 34th Street would rely on funding for a new phase of the project,” he wrote in an email to The Astorian.

The project’s limitations have been a sore spot for advocates in Uppertown and the east side, who see the lack of better lighting east of Safeway as a letdown and potential safety risk. State grant funding has brought bollard lights to the west end of the Riverwalk in Uniontown and the stretch of trail from the Columbia River Maritime Museum to Mill Pond.

Former City Councilor Tom Hilton, who represented the east side, has described the budget constraints as a “broken promise” and repeatedly pushed to extend the improved lighting as far east as possible.

“We’ll definitely continue to explore ways to do that,” said Jonah Dart-Mclean, the city’s parks director. “It is a little bit challenging in this last section that won’t be completed through this grant effort.

“Because there is the Port of Astoria’s East Mooring Basin right there, that’s kind of a large gap where it’d be challenging to add lights. And then further to the east, say, about 37th, 38th and 39th Street, the north side of the bank is pretty eroded and steep from the king tides we had in 2022. So there are some topographical challenges to overcome.”

The Oregon Community Paths grant award provides $844,843 toward the project, with the city matching just over 10% of the cost for a total of $941,539 in design and construction.

While the Astoria Parks and Recreation Department produced the successful grant application, the inclusion of federal funds require a certified agency, such as the Oregon Department of Transportation, to be the manager of the project.

“The parks department and our engineering division of public works have been helping to make sure that ODOT has the information they need to be able to move forward with the project,” Dart-Mclean said.

“We understand, too, that there’s a priority to be able to illuminate as much of that popular path along its entire length.”

Construction of the new lighting on the Riverwalk could start as soon as this week, depending on weather conditions.