Rail Trail Newsletter 2-4-2018 #16
Greetings!

I hope you are enjoying the winter. Only about a month left now. We (my friends at Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways and the MCRT Coalition) have been working away this winter on the Golden Spike 2018 conference for next July. Check out the site: wwwGS2018.org.

We also have a piece about Tom Kelleher and his work on refining and improving the MCRT maps on the website. Check that out. You'll be amazed. At the conference in July, Tom is going to be running a live feed of Google Maps showing the entire corridor from Boston to Northampton and from Northampton to New Haven, CT together with commentary along the way from people who are experts regarding each section and what is going on with each section.

I've also posted a few stories about rail trail development on Cape Cod. There are three stories about three different trail projects on the Cape. One of them is an interesting piece about branding--a favorite topic of mine. We also have a story about doing some improvements on the Airline Trail in Eastern CT and a couple of stories about an exciting development about the Northern Strand Trail in the north suburbs of Boston. Lynn has a new mayor who loves the idea of a trail there and Governor Baker and his team do, too. Amazing things are happening in 2018.

And I want to remind that you this is the 1 year anniversary of the relaunch of this e-newsletter. It has accomplished several good things that I'll explain someday. Don't forget that all the past newsletters are available at the link on the bottom. Or here. http://www.trailsidecompanies.com/archive.html

Enjoy!

Craig Della Penna
413 575 2277
Craig@GreenwaySolutions.org
"In the News"
 and Updates About the Longest Rail Trail Project in New England
Here's some updates about
Golden Spike 2018 this coming July
SAVE THE DATE
WHEN: FRIDAY JULY 27 and SATURDAY JULY 28, 2018.
WHERE: Northampton's Union Station, Northampton MA.
WHO: Trail advocates and officials from Boston to Northampton and from Northampton to New Haven.
WHAT:
  • 8 walking and 7 biking tours--over two days
  • Numerous networking opportunities.
  • Luncheon at the Union Station Ballroom.
  • Inspirational talk by a keynote speaker.
  • A small block of discounted rooms at Hotel Northampton.
  • A Google Map tour of the corridor along with commentary by advocates expert on each section of the trail from Boston to Northampton and from Northampton to New Haven, CT.
GO TO WWW.GS2018.ORG. We'll have our registration system set up in a few weeks.
Tom Kelleher is mostly known in rail trail circles as the President of the Assabet River Rail Trail .  However, he is also the MapMaster for the Mass Central Rail Trail website. When you go to the MAP section of the MCRT site, you'll see a Google map of the corridor. Look in the upper left side of the map and you'll see a drop-down box with a number of choices. Stations, Photos & Videos,
Town by Town, nearby public parking,
Bike Share programs, Forests and Conservation lands, Old Maps, MCRT's Facebook Page and that is just the start. LINK HERE . Check it out. Thanks, Tom!
Communities on the 
 on the MCRT and their websites

Did you know that many communities (or groups like land trusts) on the MCRT alignment are working on their section of the trail? 

Here are links to websites where you can learn who the contact person is, when these groups meet, when hearings are being planned and how to sign up to get notices sent to you directly.
Belmont: Link here to the town appointed committee. 
Belmont:  Link here  to the Belmont Citizens Forum.
Somerville: Friends of the Community Path's Facebook page is here
Waltham: Link here.
Weston: Link here.
Wayland:Link here
Sudbury: Link here for the N-S intersecting trail--Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. 
Hudson: Link here.  
Berlin: Link here goes to the town's Rail Trail Committee. Once on that page, you can sign up to get notices of meetings, agendas, minutes, etc. They also have a pretty nice website w pix of the future trail. Link here.
Clinton: Link here.
Wachusett Greenways area: Link here.
East Quabbin Land Trust service area: Link here.  
Ware: Check out the new FaceBook page. Link here
Belchertown/Northampton area: Link here.




Open Secondary Line To Bikes - Letter
Letter to the Editor. The Bourne Enterprise  
There are two railroad lines on the Cape. In railroad terminology, one is the Cape Main.
The other line is the Falmouth Secondary. It extends from the railroad bridge to North Falmouth. Like the Cape Main, the line belongs to the commonwealth and is under supervision of MassDOT. Read more here .
Making the connection for the Cape Cod Rail Trail
Jan 10, 2018 DENNIS — There’s a new bridge between the towns of Yarmouth and Dennis.
Mass DOT workers spent Tuesday installing a 165-foot pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Bass River. Read more.
B ikeways Committees Wrestle With Rail Trail Branding
By: Alan Pollock
CHATHAM — The name “Old Colony Rail Trail” is a nice tribute to the railroad that once serviced Harwich and Chatham, but it doesn’t communicate some key information: where the trail goes Read more .

Air Line Rail Trail - Informational Meeting
The Town of Pomfret, in conjunction with N.E. Connecticut Council of Governments, has been awarded a 5.3 million dollar grant to complete seven road crossings along the Air Line Trail between Route 169 and Putnam. This project is part of the 'big picture' plan on the part of the State of CT DEP to improve the trail from the State line to Willimantic and beyond. Read more here .

Baker-Polito Admin-istration Awards $1.5 Million to Design Northern Strand Community Trail
LYNN Mass — The Baker-Polito Administration today announced the commitment of at least $1.5 million to fund designs for the Northern Strand Community Trail in Everett, Lynn, Malden, Revere, and Saugus. .




A CAR-FREE PATH TO NORTH SHORE BEACHES GETS A $1.5M BOOST
LYNN – “This is huge,” said Clay Larson, project director of Bike to the Sea, a nonprofit who have been working for 25 years to promote construction of the bike and pedestrian trail from Malden to the Lynn and Revere waterfront. “It’s exciting because for the first time, the state is looking at the trail as one project. Up until now, each community has been developing it on their own.” READ MORE HERE.
TOURING THE RAIL TRAILS
AND THE NEARBY NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY NEAR NORTHAMPTON
     In 2016, I commissioned Tom Adams of Reelife Productions  to produce a series of short videos about each section of the burgeoning network of rail trails here in the CT River Valley. Turns out that there are 14 and you're gonna love them! 
   The one I'm featuring today is about more of the trail in Northampton. The video has some things that I'm sure you've never noticed before or some of the background info that you probably never knew. SEE THE VIDEO #14 

  MY CALENDAR
Here's my calendar of upcoming in-person lectures, online webinars, bike tours, book-signings etc. Email me at: Craig@GreenwaySolutions.org for more information on any of these events or if your community OR trail group might like to host one.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY