Ariana Kedidi, 2 and Felipe reyna, 2 help plant seeds and bulbs at the Reopening of the tow path near Lea Bridge Rd on 13th Nov 2010

Revamp designed to improve access to Olympic Park

Residents in Hackney Wick returned to a towpath along the River Lee Navigation this weekend after the completion of a £400,000 improvement project.

Visitors celebrated the reopening of the 150m-long walkway on Saturday (November 13) by planting bulbs and sowing seeds along the riverbank near Lea Bridge Road and trying out new walking routes.

The revamp, which started last July and was funded by British Waterways and Hackney Council, includes new access ramps near the Kingshead footbridge and repairs to walls providing nesting sites for rare birds.

The towpath is designed to improve links to the Olympic Park and the surrounding Lee Valley.

Jon Guest, British Waterways’ waterway manager, said: “British Waterways attracts over 13 million people onto its towpaths every year and I am delighted that the local people in Hackney can once again access this stretch of the River Lee Navigation.”