MATTAPOISETT — The deadline for completion of the currently in-progress portion of the Mattapoisett bike path has been extended to November 2021, according to Town Administrator Michael Lorenco.

Lorenco updated the Board of Selectmen on the status of the bike path at a Feb. 9 meeting. 

“Late summer completion would be ideal, but it would be a stretch to think that’s a surety right now,” The Town Administrator said. 

Lorenco said the deadline was changed after residents noticed problems with some of the planking on the path, which will cover one mile from Mattapoisett Neck Road to the salt marsh bridge. In addition, construction has been slowed by covid. 

Before the extension, the potion of the bike path was expected to be complete by spring 2021. 

“Hopefully there won’t be any more delays,” Lorenco said. 

In the meantime, the board is working to figure out how to handle the Depot Street parking lot — which the bike path contractor is currently using for construction — when summer traffic to the beach is likely to increase. 

“If they don’t need to be in there with a ton of space, there needs to be a plan to get them out of there,” Selectman Jordan Collyer said. 

Once the planking is done on the bridge — which should be within the next few months — Lorenco said he doesn’t think the space will need to be as heavily occupied for construction.

“I would imagine a lot of that space wouldn’t be required once that planking’s done,” he said. 

While the board noted that beach traffic is dependent on covid, they agreed that if cases continue to decline, traffic is likely to increase over the summer. 

“I’m hoping here, but we need to be prepared for that contingency as well,” Collyer said.