Rail Trail Newsletter 5-2020 #45
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Greetings!
First of all, I know you all are wondering. . . NO! Mass DOT still hasn't released their highly anticipated feasibility study that talks about the middle 50 miles of the Mass Central Rail Trail. Obviously that has been delayed by the Covid situation we've all been focusing on for the past two months. I can see that as things get back to "normal" one of the new normal things will be a Zoom type public meeting that launches the study. As soon as that impending study is about to be released, I'll post it here so you'll know of it and can hopefully participate. In this issue we have a link to a Zoom meeting recently held in Belmont about their section of the MCRT.
By nature, a feasibility study will generally present a few options on areas of constraint or a "work-around" sometimes where perhaps a bridge is missing. Sometimes that "work-around" is only temporary until the resources are marshaled to do the bridge.
A couple of examples of long term projects are the Bay Circuit Trail, and the East Coast Greenway. The ECG in particular is a long term project that recognizes that everything is in transition. The end result of the ECG will be 80% off road and 20% on-road. When the project launched in the 1990s, it started off at 80% on-road and 20% off-road. Today it is 33% off road. Bit by bit it moves ahead. The Bay Circuit Trail is also a project that has been a "work in progress". In the case of the BCT, that started in 1929 and it too has moved around a bit since its inception. And I've got a few stories about the BCT here as well. One is a great short video of Al French, who is another one of the heros in the trails movement in the region. One other story shows a connection of the BCT and the Wayside segment of the MCRT.
Stay safe and keep your social distance.
Craig Della Penna, Exec. Director
Norwottuck Network
62 Chestnut St. Northampton, MA 01062
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In the GREEN area, news
about the Mass Central Rail Trail
and its connecting paths
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MCRT
In the News!
Updates About the Longest Developing Rail Trail Project in the Northeast U.S. (and trails that connect to it.)
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A television interview about construction underway on the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in downtown Westfield, MA.
This will be open all the way to New Haven in a few more years and the center section in downtown Westfield will be completely elevated with 5 bridges carrying you above vehicular traffic--much like the Highline in NYC. And in a few more years it will connect with the MCRT in Northampton.
See the video here. [
BTW,
Westfield is another project in Mass w 20+ year gestation period. CDP]
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MORE NEWS ABOUT MILE-MARKERS ON THE MCRT CORRIDOR
The city of Northampton, Mass and a local artist recently completed the new granite, monuments that mark the intersection of the
Mass Central Rail Trail
(N'ton > Boston) and the Northampton to New Haven Canal Greenway Trail (N'ton > New Haven).
Read more.
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Progress Report on the Belmont section of the MCRT.
On May 14, a Zoom public meeting was held to talk about the work on the design of the MCRT [locally known as the Belmont Community Path] through Belmont. Very detailed and very interesting.
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A FACEBOOK POST ABOUT HOUSES CLOSE TO FORMER RR CORRIDOR
I was on a Facebook group the other day called:
"Abandoned Rails"
and participated in a discussion about houses close to railroads. I told how our house came to have a railroad only 8 feet away.
See the post
.
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If your org on the MCRT is interested in providing a home for this float, please drop me an email and I’ll forward your missive to Mike.
Craig Della Penna
413 575 2277
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Does your MCRT org need a genuine MCRT parade float?
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Craig,
Hope you and yours have been well.
We no longer have a place to store our MCRT parade float. We need to find a new home for it asap!
If you could help us by reaching out to your MCRT network, that would be fantastic.
There has been some slight damage to it, but it can be fixed up with not too much effort.
We can arrange to tow it to its new home, if need be.
Thanks,
Mike
Click on the image to get a printable PDF
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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.
Belmont: Link
here
to the Friends of the Community Path Facebook group.
Somerville: Link
here
to the Friends of the Community Path Facebook group.
Waltham: Link
here
to the Waltham Land Trust's site.
Walham: Link
here
to the Waltham Bike Committee.
Waltham: Link
here
to the City's page about the MCRT.
Weston: Link
here
to the town's page about the MCRT
Weston: Link
here
to the history of both the RR and the advocacy to create the trail. Over 25 years of advocacy. It is now open.
Sudbury: Link
here
for the N-S intersecting trail--Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
Hudson: Link
here
for the NE-SW intersecting trail--Assabet River Rail Trail.
Berlin-Hudson: Link
here
to the new FaceBook group.
Berlin: Link
here
goes to the town's Rail Trail Committee. They also have a pretty nice website with pictures of the existing dead RR corridor along other maps and images of a future trail. Link
here
.
Wayside segment of the MCRT: Link
here
to a history of DCR's efforts on this.
Clinton Greenway Conservation Trust: Link
here
.
Clinton Tunnel: Link
here
to a story on WBZ Boston TV about the tunnel.
Wachusett Greenways area: Link
here
.
East Quabbin Land Trust: Link
here
.
Palmer coming soon
Ware:
Link
here to the Facebook group about this segment of the MCRT'.
Belchertown:
Link
for the site for Friends of the Belchertown Greenway.
Amherst, Hadley on DCR's Norwottuck section of the MCRT: Link
here
.
Northampton area: Link
here
to the Friends of Northampton Trails website.
Northampton area: Link
here
to the Friends of Northampton Trails Facebook.
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AND IN THE WHITE AREA,
OTHER NEWS AROUND THE REGION
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Homelessness on the trail
By Jim Kenyon
Valley News Columnist
By their very name, stay-at-home orders presume too much. Lest we forget, as we fret about shortages of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, not everyone has a home to stay at.
For six months, Shane Colford’s home was a tent in the woods off the Mascoma River Greenway, the paved pedestrian and bicycle path along the abandoned railway line between Lebanon and West Lebanon.
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SNETT TRAIL CLOSURE ADVISORY, MAY 11 – AUGUST 31, 2020!
We are so excited that the tunnel project under the Prospect Street in Franklin is on schedule! Please read the advisory below about the trail closure. We also suggest to follow our
Facebook
page for any updates, as well as the
Town of Franklin
,
Franklin Police
and
Franklin DPW
pages for any traffic advisories for Prospect Street during the construction. Thank you!
Read more
.
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80-mile trail connecting Southern Tier to downtown Buffalo now in the works
Posted:
Apr 27, 2020 / 01:06
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)–An 80-mile trail that connects the Southern Tier to downtown, is now in the works.
The trail would start in the City of Buffalo and would extend all the way to the Town of Hinsdale, which is in Cattaraugus County.
GObike and Alta Planning and Design are coming together to make this happen.
Read more here.
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An interesting report about Bennington VT from almost 20 years ago.
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Back around the turn of the century, I was a part of a team tasked with doing a feasibility study about converting an out of service line in Bennington VT into a rail trail. I did a report about the history of the line, traffic levels, AND it included a snippet about Francis Poulin and his interesting project.
As a retirement hobby in the early 1960s, Mr. Poulin would walk and take pix of all the RoW of the old Rutland Rwy. He photographed every mile. Taking over-lapping photos. And taking pix of every siding, every bridge, every grade-crossing. Amazing. I talk a little about this in the report that I've attached.
But here we are, deeper into the 21st century now with broadband commonplace and now much of the collection has been cataloged and scanned by the Rutland RR Historical Society onto a website at Middlebury College in VT.
Here's a link
to that archive
.
It's a great look at a local railroad in small New England towns in the mid 20th century as rail traffic was starting to disappear and thus the railroad was slipping away. Very Norman Rockwell-esque imagery.
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You'll recognize a few of the lines as becoming some of the most iconic rail trails in the region.
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Connecticut rail trail usage spikes during pandemic with people eager to escape coronavirus isolation
HARTFORD COURANT |
APR 28, 2020 | 11:09 AM
In a two-hour span on a nice Sunday afternoon in mid-April, John Hankins of Mansfield rode his bike 20 miles on the Charter Oak and Hop River rail trails and passed 530 people. Hankins was counting trail users for Bike Walk Bolton, a local volunteer organization which advocates for pedestrians and cyclists.
Read more here
.
[And I've known John Hankins for about 25 years as a rail trail advocate. This story is just so typical of him. Kudos to you, John!]
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History & Scenery Meets Tranquility on Saratoga County Bike Path
Trains whistling, roosters crowing, birds singing, frogs croaking, wind blowing— enjoy a unique soundtrack on the the Ballston Veterans Bike Path in the town of Ballston in Saratoga County. Once a trade route for Native Americans, the Ballston Veterans Bike Path was later the route of the Schenectady-Saratoga Trolley line.
Read more here.
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The 2020 Hudson River Access Plan:
Protect the public’s right to access the Hudson River Shoreline!
Read more here.
Poughkeepsie to Rensselaer has been completed and released to the public! Thank you to everyone for your participation and feedback. The Final Plan can be found
here
and on
Scenic Hudson’s website
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Rail Trail Gets Resurfaced
in Castleton VT
RUTLAND HERALD— The D&H rail trail only looks like its been blacktopped. Step on the trail, which runs from Castleton to Poultney, and it becomes evident the new surface is actually just crushed stone.
The project also includes creating a more defined trailhead in Poultney.
Read more here.
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The NHRTC Presents…….
The New Hampshire Rail Trails Challenge
The New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition www.nhrtc.org is pleased to announce the New Hampshire Rail Trails Challenge!
Read more here.
[This is an org you should check out. An org filled w committed, savvy advocates. CDP]
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Proposed Bike path from Sakonnet Bridge to Fall River moves to next step
TIVERTON, RI -- A proposal to build a bike path along the railroad tracks between the Sakonnet River Bridge and the Fall River line will move to the next step after getting a nod from the town council even though there are many unanswered questions and some concerns from abutters.
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A FEW STORIES ABOUT THE BAY CIRCUIT TRAIL
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Here's a primer on the Bay Circuit Trail seen on Chronicle, a Boston TV 5 show. It features Al French, the leader of the BCT for may years.
See the short video
.
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About the Bay Circuit Trail & Greenway
T
he idea for the Bay Circuit Trail & Greenway first arose in 1929. It would be an “outer Emerald Necklace,” proponents said—a greenbelt that would mirror the famous string of Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks threading through urban Boston—and would provide open space for the metropolitan area’s quickly expanding population.
Read more here
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Right around the same time the Wayside section of the MCRT opened in Weston, Weston also joined the Bay Circuit trail.
See the map.
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AND IN THE ORANGE AREA
Interesting and Pertinent Stories From Around the Country about the change that Covid 19 is bringing to the world.
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The Impact of Highway Removal on Cities.
ROBERT STEUTEVILLE CNU
A new report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy examines the highways-to-boulevards trend and how this will impact cities in coming years.
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Changing the Built Environ-ment: The New Normal for Public and Private Spaces?
Opening Streets to Pedestrians and Bicycles By: Tracey C. Velt
It’s a sign of the times: A stretch of Martin Luther King Drive in Philadelphia was closed indefinitely to motorized vehicles to provide a way for residents to distance while exercising safely. New York City added protected bikeways to several areas of the city to allow essential workers another way to get to work safely. Boston, Jamaica Plain, and Watertown in Massachusetts closed down segments of three parkways to vehicles.
Read more.
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Pedestrians to take over parkways in Boston and
Watertown
By Matt Berg Boston Globe Updated April 10, 2020 Beginning Friday at dusk, three roads will be closed to vehicular traffic and opened for pedes-trian use, according to a statement from the Baker administration. Recreational use on the following roads will begin Saturday at dawn:
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Drivers Not Wanted on Oakland’s ‘Slow Streets’
The California city isn’t the first to experiment with car restrictions in the coronavirus pandemic, but its plan to discourage drivers is the most extensive. Last week, Oakland, California, announced a bold answer to shelter-in-place coronavirus claustrophobia: To create more outdoor space and safer corridors for essential travel by foot or bike, the city would restrict access to vehicles on nearly 74 miles of city street — about 10% of the city’s street network.
Read more.
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Here's a radio interview with Chuck Flink
, owner and president of Durham, NC-based Greenways Inc. Flink discusses the increasing interest in greenways during the pandemic, his recently published book, North Carolina’s standing as a national leader in greenway development, and his favorite musical tunes.
HEAR THE INTERVIEW.
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Seattle to permanently close 20 miles of streets to traffic so residents can exercise and bike on them
.
(CNN) — Seattle residents will have more space to exercise and bike on as the city plans to permanently close 20 miles of streets to most vehicular traffic, the mayor announced Thursday.
The Stay Healthy Streets initiative started in April to temporarily provide more space for residents to get out of the house and exercise while maintaining social distancing during the pandemic. Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan said Thursday that the closures will be permanent.
Read more.
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One page bio
of what I do
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Amazingly, Constant Contact alerted Tiffany Lyman-Olszewski, the editor here, that this newsletter is in the top 10% of all of Constant Contact's newsletters, worldwide, in terms of readership engagement.
Imagine that
!
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