Construction will soon be underway to replace the aging Onset Boat Ramp with a new 16-foot wide, 104-foot long ramp. Harbormaster Garry Buckminster said the contractor, Kingstown, Rhode Island-based Key Corporation, was scheduled to break ground sometime this week.

“We have been in constant communication with them and expect to see some action soon,” said Buckminster.

Buckminster said Key Corporation has until April 30 to finish construction per its contract with the town. The company submitted the lowest bid for the work. Out of four received in mid-August, Key Corporation's bid was $156,000.

Built in 1962, the boat ramp is located off of East Boulevard in Onset, on Broad Cove. A concrete ramp will be built at the site, allowing boaters to easily get their vessels in and out of the cove. Funds for the reconstruction are coming from a $100,000 Community Preservation Act grant.

The Bouchard Transportation Trustee Council also awarded $67,500 for the project. That council is responsible for helping to clean up Buzzards Bay following an oil spill in 2003.

The boat ramp reconstruction is one improvement residents can look forward to this year. In October, Town Meeting voters approved transferring $104,128 from two Harbormaster Department accounts into one that funds improvements.

Of the $104,128, $25,000 will cover unforeseen expenses related to the Onset Boat Ramp project. Any and all of the funds approved at Town Meeting that were not spent will be returned to the account they were taken from originally. The remaining $79,128 will be spent on waterfront upgrades, all-terrain vehicles and a redesign of office space and restrooms at Onset Pier.

There are nine different expenditures in total, including: $10,000 for mooring and dock repairs; $20,400 for two, all-terrain vehicles to patrol beaches and other uses; and $6,000 to redesign the Onset Pier Harbormaster Office, information center and showers and bathrooms.

Additionally, $9,000 will be used to buy replacement swim lines, supplies to build a kayak rack, and barriers and snow fences to protect beaches from erosion.