LEWISTON — A new stairway will descend into the Niagara Gorge from a scenic overlook near the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge under a plan to enhance trails and viewpoints at three points in Niagara Falls and Lewiston.

The new stairs will descend about 300 feet to a second overlook above the lower Niagara River, said Edward Alkiewicz, licensing manager for the New York Power Authority.

“The main focus and feature of this project is to have another spot in the gorge where people can relatively easily — because of the construction of a new trail and stair system—get into the bottom of the gorge,” said Albert J. Nihill, associate landscape architect for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Construction on the new stairway is expected to begin next year after the design is complete, Alkiewicz said.

Plans also call for upgrading the Schoellkopf overlook near the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center in Niagara Falls and repairing or replacing three sets of gorge stairs at Artpark in Lewiston.

All three projects — expected to total about $2.2 million for the trail enhancements and upgrades to the Discovery Center — will be paid for by the New York Power Authority under a settlement agreement related to the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project.

Landscape architects from the state parks office and an Ithaca-based firm, Trowbridge & Wolf, unveiled conceptual plans for the projects during a public meeting Thursday night at the Niagara Power Project visitor center in Lewiston.

“I’m glad to see that this plan seems to be sensitive to the ecological value of the gorge,” Niagara Falls resident Beverly Barthel said after the meeting.

Barthel, a member of the Niagara Heritage Partnership, said she was pleased to learn that concrete will be reduced in some project areas and that state officials have taken steps to protect wildlife in the gorge area.

At the Schoellkopf overlook, located above the point where the Schoellkopf power plant once stood, the project will replace a chain-link fence with a new railing system. A concrete area will be replaced with native plants, Nihill said.

Nihill said the state, in a separate but related project, is also planning to replace or add new docks for fishing at 20 points in the Niagara Gorge between Niagara Falls and Youngstown.

The hourlong meeting — which focused on the gorge trail improvements — turned into a discussion about the future of the Robert Moses Parkway and whether it should be removed.

“These are good ideas, but it would be so spectacular if we could get the parkway removed and we could get a wildlife natural trail there and then have our lookouts,” said Joan Johnson, echoing the sentiment of several people who spoke at the meeting.

DeVeaux resident Mike Parsnick, however, said a “significant part” of the DeVeaux community has “major concerns” about the removal of the parkway and how it would affect the neighborhood’s ambience.

Nihill said the state parks office last week hired a team of consultants led by Parsons Transportation Group of Buffalo to begin a yearlong “scoping process” that will study options of the northern section of the parkway between Niagara Falls and Lewiston.

That process, Nihill said, will include public outreach and data collection.