New Section of Community Path Breaks Ground Monday

The Somerville Community Path is getting a little bit longer.

The pedestrian and bicycle pathway will be extended from Cedar Street to Lowell Street, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the project is scheduled for Monday.

It's the first new section of Community Path to be built in Somerville in 18 years, and the cost of the project, which will extend the path about one quarter of a mile, is $2 million, according to an announcement from the city.

Funding comes from the Federal Highway Administration's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, with matching funds from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and more than $1 million in earmarked funding secured by Rep. Michael Capuano, the announcement says.

Eventually, advocates hope to extend the Community Path, which begins in Davis Square and is connected to the Minuteman Bikeway in Cambridge, all the way to Boston. Doing so would serve as the final link in the 104-mile Massachusetts Central Rail Trail from Boston to Northampton, according to the city's announcement.

Monday's groundbreaking ceremony, hosted by the city, Friends of the Community Path and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, takes place at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Cedar Street and the Community Path.