Rail Trail e-Newsletter August 2022 #69
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Greetings!
After starting the planning for Golden Spike 2021 in the spring of 2021 and with an unanticipated Covid delay until July 2022, our long delayed event went off with 90+ attendees on-hand. Only a couple of minor tech glitches. My videographer is now back from vacaction and is editing the footage he shot. As soon as that appears, we'll build a page on one of the website that'll be all about the GS2022 event.
I do want to thank all the MCRT volunteers and NN Board members who did some heroic efforts in making sure this was a pleasant and at the same time inspiration for all those who attended. And thanks to the folks at Stone Church for their gracious and beautiful setting. Thanks to our tour guides and thanks so much to Galen Mook and his Mass Bike team for setting up the nice post-conference event at Lost Towns Brew Pub nearby.
In other news, we (NN) have hired Kittelson & Associates to produce the report that answers the big question. Just what would a completed MCRT produce for the Commonwealth and the communities along the way? We will be finding out. The RFP we sent out this spring can seen at this link. You'll also see an infographic about the 40+ long journey thus far.
And I don't know if it was an aligning of the stars, but there are several docs that have appeared recently about the saga in Sudbury where the opponents now are disputing the MBTA's ownership of the corridor. I couldn't make this stuff up. Those docs are seen below.
So nice to see many of you in Gilbertville. it has been a loonng time.
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, we have news about the
Mass Central Rail Trail
and/or its connecting paths
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On July 30th we held our 8th GS event. This was in Gilberville at Stone Church Cultural Center and we had 90+ attendees, including nationally known speakers and 5 walking and biking tours.
One of the more moving highlights was Steven Hawk's short speech after receiving his Golden Spike award for his advocacy work in getting the trail improved and built in Ware. Very special.
We had Tom Adams of Reelife Productions recording the entire day's activities and we'll have a webpage set up soon with the videos and oodles of pix about the day's events.
Stay tuned for more.
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Alas, the 18+year saga of the "to-do" in Sudbury continues, but we getting near the end. |
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First off, we have 4 stories about the Sudbury section of the MCRT finally getting closer to construction.
Doc 1 is about Eversource announcing surveyors are going to be out on the corridor soon.
Doc 2 is a Memorandum of Agreement between Army Corp of Engineers, Mass Historical Commission, Mass DCR and Eversource.
Doc 3 is a new lawsuit by adjoining landowners in Sudbury challenging the T's ownership at the Surface Transportation Board in DC
Doc 4 is the response by the MBTA fighting the assertions of the neighbors.
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To the left is the deed for the MBTA purchase of corridor in 30 communities in the 1970s--including Sudbury. Their (and actually any municipality too) purchasing protocol cleans out any "cloudy title" and produces a fee simple deed. There is no cloudy title on any part of any T owned corridor in the state.
To the lower left here is an infographic called CONNECTING THE DOTS which shows how Massachusetts came to own the densest network of dead steam railroad corridor in North America. Which is now becoming the densest network of rail to trail conversions.
And here's a link to the Sudbury Historic Commission's page about the "to do" regarding the Eversouce project on the MCRT. Over 125 different documents. And if you thought building a trail is easy. . . |
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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 regularly updated history of DCR's efforts on building out this complicated trail.
Clinton Greenway Conservation Trust: Link here. updated info.
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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We have yet another two good news stories about Sudbury.
Right at the intersection of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Mass Central Rail Trail
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Exciting News! Phase 2D in Sudbury is Advertised for Construction.
This 4.4 mile section of trail in Sudbury from the Sudbury/Concord line to the MassCentral Rail Trail was advertised for construction in the Boston Globe on Saturday, August 6, 2022.
The BFRT will be shovel-ready in Fall of 2022 and user-ready after construction (estimated to take 2 years). Always a lot of news about the BFRT is on their website. LINK HERE to this story.
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Eversource Gets The Green Light for the BFRT from Historic Districts Commission Submitted by Kevin LaHaise for the Blog, https://tinyletter.com/SudburyWeekly
What's Happening
Let's begin at the end: the Historic District Commission approved the Certificate of Appropriateness Eversource needed to proceed with their project plan for the area around the historic Section Tool House, and more broadly in that historic district. Construction is expected to begin any day now according to the Eversource site. Click here to read more.
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Ribbon cutting ceremony brings first phase of Twin Cities Rail Trail to the finish line
David Dore Leominster Champion
LEOMINSTER — After hearing about it from fellow cyclists, Mona Jalal made her first trip from the Boston area to Leominster Friday, July 29, eager to check out the Twin Cities Rail Trail.
Jalal said her first impressions were the Twin Cities Rail Trail has “very beautiful” scenery, is (at 12 feet) wider than other trails on which she has cycled, and is a safer way to travel from downtown Leominster to downtown Fitchburg. Read more. |
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The Jonah Center’s most far-reaching project — to connect the 2 longest multi-use trails in Connecticut — has been awarded 2 grants: a $315,000 route study grant by CT DOT this past February; and a $500,000 grant by the state bond commission in April. The bond commission grant will allow preliminary design work to be done on at least some sections of the connector route. Read more. |
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MAINE'S EASTERN TRAIL SELECTED AS ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST RAIL-TRAILS
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 8-11-22
The popular Maine trail to join elite group as 36th inductee in Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame. Read more. (Very nice story and a very scenic trail too, but what I find most interesting about the ET is the fact that there is a natural gas pipleine is in the corridor and the owner of the pipeline welcomed the trail with a comment like: the more eyes on the area, the better for their pipeline. AND the fact that 15+ years ago the trail group, led by the late John Andrews, had quiet, but key, behind the scenes meetings with leaders in the Maine RR industry to change the Rec-use Statutes that made it easier to have Rail-w-Trail. No mention of that in the article, but that innovative idea in Maine spread to Mass in 2009 and soon now to NH. VT and CT are still stuck in the 20th century on this issue. CDP)
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16 Scenic Stops Along The Beautiful Cape Cod Rail Trail
Sandi Barrett TravelAwaits.com
Walk, bike, or run — the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) is a beautiful way to see the real Cape Cod. It traverses through six towns (Yarmouth, Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, and Wellfleet).
This year I decided to walk the Cape Cod Rail Trail. The trail is listed as 22 miles long, but the new Yarmouth 3-mile extension elongates the walk to 25 miles away. Read more. |
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In a virtual public hearing last week, MassDOT shared preliminary designs for a proposed rail trail project in Lawrence, adding this gateway city to the growing list of trail projects announced this summer.
Currently, the rail corridor is unusable by pedestrians or bicyclists due to the presence of train tracks at some sections, overgrown vegetation, and inaccessible ramps, crosswalks, and curbs. Read more. |
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By DON LEHMAN
Contributing writer, Hill Country Observer
RUPERT, Vt.
As recently as the summer of 2018, people walking or biking the D&H Rail Trail in western Vermont were met with some overgrown sections where there was barely a narrow path through the brush.
“There were some sections where there was like a tire tread width,” recalled Jon Kaplan, manager of Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Bike and Pedestrian Program. Read more.
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Officials laud emerging shared-use trail network in Bennington VT By Jim Therrien, Bennington Banner Aug 10, 2022
BENNINGTON — Town officials this week marked a milestone in Bennington’s multi-year effort to plan, fund and construct an ambitious network of shared-use pathways.
“We are very excited that work is coming together on these projects,” Assistant Town Manager Daniel Monks said during a presentation before the Select Board. Read more
(I remember this project well. 20ish years ago I was a part of a project to do a report about this idea from a historical context. Here's a link to that. CDP)
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Counters Give Valuable Information On Bike Path Use
By OLIVIA DEPUNTE 8-9-22 Falmouth News
Each morning, Neel Aluru makes the 11-mile ride along the Shining Sea Bikeway from North Falmouth to his work in Woods Hole and then back home again later in the day. He shares his love of the scenic route with many—about 24,369 pedestrians and 100,532 fellow cyclists per year, to be exact. The Falmouth Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee knows this because it has high-tech counters along the path. Read more.
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Second tree sculpture takes root along city's rail trail
Dave Rogers, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass. 8-8-22
NEWBURYPORT — Among the many works of art that lines the Clipper City Rail Trail is a bas-relief steel tree sculpture with leaves near Washington Street. In all, the campaign raised $40,000 will all money going toward protecting, preserving and maintaining the city's trees. Read more And read about Friends of Newburyport's Trees. |
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Southampton secures $300K to design 3.5-mile rail trail extension By EMILY THURLOW
Daily Hampshire Gazette 7-24-22
SOUTHAMPTON — A 3.5-mile railroad corridor that has been inactive for more than 30 years is one step closer to seeing some movement along its rails.
The town has secured a $300,000 MassTrails grant that enables it to begin the design, engineering and permitting process for a new rail trail on that corridor, said Town Admin-istrator Ed Gibson. “This is an exciting next step in our Greenway Bicycle/Pedestrian Path which will connect to the Easthampton (Manhan) Trail and get us closer to connecting to the rail trail in Westfield as well,” said Gibson. Read more.
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AND IN THE ORANGE AREA
Interesting, "High-Altitude" Stories From Around the Country and Sometimes Beyond.
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The Fascinating Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Streetcar Suburbs
From 1890-1930, they exploded across the American landscape, offering people the chance to own a home just outside the city. Lack of government support curtailed their growth, but these historic neighborhoods serve as models for efficient urban planning. Read more. (This is a VERY interesting article. CDP)
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Late-night tandem bike ride leads to police stop — and calls to open East Bay Bike Path 24/7
Officials say safety and security are behind the policy, but bike mobility advocates say both would improve by keeping the path open.
By Brian Amaral Globe Staff,Updated August 5, 2022, 6:00 a.m.
EAST PROVIDENCE — Jennifer Soares and Ryan Guillette were riding south on the East Bay Bike Path toward Barrington Town Beach at about 1:30 on a recent Saturday morning when they saw a vehicle on the path even more unusual than their disco-light-laden tandem bike: an East Providence police cruiser. The cruiser flashed its lights. They were being pulled over on the bike path. Read more
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The new Norwottuck Network is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation specifically set up to help get the longest rail trail in New England--the Mass Central Rail Trail --built-out, operational and notable.
We can help do that by making small, mini-grants available to local groups and communities that will bring restore/renovate/replace historic mile-markers on the corridor. Or help fund kiosks that will call out forgotten railroad or industrial history of that locale.
We will want to work with the state park agency Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on standardized kiosk designs.
We will keep you all posted as to developments as we go. We have made it easy to DONATE through the Network for Good.
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I was recently invited
to be on a Podcast. click below. Caution! 1.5 hours
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Amazingly, Constant Contact alerted us 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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