Rail Trail Newsletter 9-2020 #46 |
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Greetings!
Lots of interesting news this month. Sudbury, Mass is in here twice. They've reached an agreement with Class 1 RR CSX as to the price and conditions of the sale of about a mile and a half of dead RR corridor. This is the n-s oriented, proposed Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Though still pretty pricey, it is a reasonable price. It was 2001 when reps from CSX met in my offices with folks from seven communities to talk about railbanking five corridors in the 7 communities. Thank goodness for Gov Baker and the Trails Team in his office, finally pulling this together. And let's not forget to mention the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail with over 3,000 members advocating for this too.
The other Sudbury story is about the e-w oriented, Mass Central Rail Trail where we've posted a piece about a Conservation Commission meeting about the Eversource/DCR proposal to put an underground utility in the corridor. This is much like what was done in both Weston where they were OK with that and it was built. Hudson just approved it and it will be built there, but Sudbury still has more concerns.
Keep enjoying what's left of the summer. Keep wearing a mask and keep your social distance.
I'll be like Diogenes. Instead of looking for an honest man, I'll be on the lookout for MassDOT's MCRT Feasibility study. As soon as it appears, I'll get it off to everyone. I'm told that September will be when it comes out. Stay tuned.
Craig Della Penna, Exec. Director
Norwottuck Network
62 Chestnut St. Northampton, MA 01062
413 575 2277 CraigDP413@gmail.com
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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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Info from Sudbury about the Eversource /DCR project on the east-west Mass Central Rail Trail corridor
Here is the link to the Sudbury Cons Comm material related to the Eversource / DCR project.
They have a lot of documents, agendas, and minutes. At the bottom of the page is a link to all their Zoom hearings this year. Although only two meetings are listed on this page, there are actually dozens of them on the Zoom portal page.
The last meeting was on August 13th, and the DCR topic starts at the 5:00 minute mark.
Click here to go to the video of the meeting. Don't forget to scroll to the 5:00 minute mark.
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Big news on the Hudson section of the DCR / Eversource project on the MCRT. After 7+ months of public hearings, the Town of Hudson Conservation Commission voted Thursday night (8/20/2020) to accept the revised conditions (ie; Notice of Intent) to build the underground power line and Mass Central Rail Trail in the eastern half of Hudson. The final version of the plans will be posted on the town website early next week. As one member put it, Hudson is now Shovel Ready! Read more.
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Info from Sudbury about the purchase of CSX owned north-south corridor slated to be a part of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The image to the left here is an overview / update.
Click here to go to the report by the town manager. (This negotiation started in 2001. Yes, a shameful 19 years. CDP)
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Guest columnists Markelle Smith, Kristin DeBoer and Kristen Sykes: The ‘Great Outdoors’ gets a federal boost.
Congress gave outdoor lovers a lot to celebrate this summer when it passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which provides full and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and $9.5 billion for much-needed maintenance on federal public lands. Read more.
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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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Bay State Bike Month is September in 2020!
From Cape Cod to the Berkshires and everywhere around and in between, riders in the commonwealth are encouraged to organize bike-centric events to bring out new riders and raise awareness about bicycling for fitness, fun and transportation.Read more.
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NOT JUST THE HIGHLINE. . . Mass. spot named among 10 ‘lovely’ parks worldwide that were former railroad lines
One of the places here is about 30 minutes from our B&B. Read more.
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WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Community members helped celebrate the completion of Westfield’s newest mural along the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail tunnel on Saturday.
The Tunnel walls are covered with artistic impressions of heroes who’ve battled COVID-19. The dedication was made by the non-profit, Westfield Art Works. Neighbors like Gary Wolfe who’ve seen the Mural take shape say it’s a positive addition to the area. See more.
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Have you ever heard of "ONLY IN YOUR STATE?"
This is a daily email service about interesting things in different realms, in a given state. My search is about Massachusetts of course. The one above is about the Shining Sea Trail in Falmouth and Woods Hole on Cape Cod. Very nice write up. Read more.
Here's a link to the notable, behind the scenes story of how the Shining Sea Trail got built. And the three amazing things that happened, that to this day are allowing trails to get built all over the state.
And here is a link to a short video interview with the retired state rep from Woods Hole, Dick Kendall, who got the preserving legislation passed.
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25% DESIGN HEARING BY MASS DOT ON THE NEW SCHELL BRIDGE
A Design Public Hearing Webinar will be published on the MassDOT website to present the design for the proposed Schell Bridge Replacement project in Northfield, MA.
WHEN: Thursday, September 17th, 2020
PURPOSE: The purpose of this webinar is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully informed. Read more.
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Construction workers lift Salisbury rail trail bridge into place
SALISBURY, MA — The MassDOT erected a pedestrian / bike bridge over Route 1 at True Road and Gerrish Road over the course of those two nights. (This is a part of the East Coast Greenway--ECG. The largest infrastructure project currently underway in the U.S. CDP) Read more.
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Northampton trails group gives people a leg up onto bikes
NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Public School’s free meals program has helped Kristi Lewis and her two kids, 8 and 12, get through the summer. When she went to the Pleasant Street location recently to pick up meals, she was surprised when someone there asked if her kids needed bicycles. Read more. (full disclosure. I am on the board of Friends of Northampton Trails. CDP)
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Did you know that the CT Trail Census project sponsors, ON THE TRAIL, hosted by Neva Taylor. This is a podcast all about topics both on, off, in and around trails in Connecticut. Come see what we learn “On the Trail!” New episodes posted every Friday at 12PM!
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Work to begin on Newport, VT lakeside recreation route touted as an economic driver with an international connection That idea spawned another: connecting the city’s existing downtown bike trail, with the one that stretches from the north side of Newport up toward the border with Canada.
The result would be a 7-mile path that cyclists could take from downtown up along Lake Memphremagog and then on to Canada. Read more.
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AND IN THE ORANGE AREA
Interesting and Pertinent Stories From Around the Country and Sometimes Beyond.
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The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation
For the last 70 years, American transportation planners have been using the same model to decide what to build. There’s just one problem: it’s often wrong. This article appears in VICE Magazine's Algorithms issue, which investigates the rules that govern our society, and what happens when they're broken. Read more.
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The Complete Business Case for Converting Street Parking Into Bike Lanes
An annotated, chart-filled review of 12 studies from around the world.
Did you know that the City of Northampton recently rec'd a grant from MassDOT to widen sidewalks, put in a protected bike lane, and several parking spots were lost. Local businesses were upset at the loss of parking.
Here's a link to a report with a dozen examples of success stories when you remove parking for a bike lane. Read more.
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IF you thought that the MBTA was the only transit agency helping build rail trails, you'd be wrong.
Madison County Transit is a bus and bike trail transportation system that serves the citizens of Madison County, which is located in Illinois approximately 20 miles northeast of St. Louis. It was created in 1980 by the Madison County Board to improve transportation there. 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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