Waterford ― A contractor has begun installing foundations for three-quarters of a mile of handicapped accessible walkways around the duck pond in the Civic Triangle.

The $2.2 million project was approved by the Board of Selectmen two years ago. It will add filtration to the pond, make the Arnold E. Holm Jr. memorial more prominent and add a number of accessibility and safety features around the pond and up to the community center, playground and library.

First Selectman Rob Brule said Wednesday he’s hopeful that the project will be finished by the coming spring. The first phase of the project which involved pond dredging started in August and was completed last week.

As for the trees that have been cut down in the park, a move that upset some residents, Brule said some of them were diseased. He said new trees will be planted.

Approximately $1.2 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds are being used for the concrete walkways. The Board of Finance has approved spending an additional $275,000 to extend another portion of accessible walkway to the playground. The appropriation must still be approved by the Representative Town Meeting.

Crissy Waggoner, a member of the Waterford Town Center Ad-hoc Committee, which has made recommendations to the town about what is needed in the park, said Wednesday it’s been exciting to see the progress with the handicapped accessible walkway.

“I live in the condos across the street,” Waggoner said. “It literally went from like is this ever going to start? To like, I see the walkway. And it’s so exciting. There’s been so much progress over the last few months that it’s been so exciting.”

Waggoner said she has been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which she said makes walking on uneven surfaces difficult. The connective tissue disorder makes joints overly flexible and prone to dislocation.

“So I need all the help I can get walking around this beautiful town we have,” Waggoner said.

She said she spent many years when her son was younger not being able to go from the playground down to the pond with him because there was no walkway.

“Again, not that I’ll be taking my 14-year-old to the duck pond like I did when he was little all the time, but I can go now and take a walk around safely and enjoy the area that I, for years and years, went to and lived near,” Waggoner said.

Brule said other improvements are still possible such as adding handicapped parking on the site of the former animal shelter and handicapped accessible bathrooms.

He said that it’s been amazing to “work with a group like Crissy’s, to listen and to see the pride they took in it.”

“They took ownership of it. As a leader, that’s what makes you most proud,” Brule said.

d.drainville@theday.com