Rail Trail e-Newsletter April 2022 #65
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Greetings!
Finally it is spring. And finally we are ready to release the RFP we been working so hard on in the past few months. The REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS will be to hire a consultant to produce a report about a completed Mass Central Rail Trail might mean to the state and the communities along the way. We just passed the 90 miles of protected out of the 104 miles. In two years we'll over 70 miles open. Lying ahead is the harder parts of the corridor to build. Places with missing bridges that are hundreds of feet long. Will it be worth it to rebuild them? What is the project producing right now and more importantly, what should we expect to produce if completed? Looks like we're going to find out.
Also in this issue are a couple of essays from Swampscott. One is a pro-trail piece. And one is not. Yes, there is still some opposition in Swampscott. 20+ years in. And along that line, we have a story about the Town of Bedford, not having a sufficient number of votes to move forward an initiative to extend the Minuteman Trail towards Concord.
More uplifting stories are seen below too. Don't forget to register for our summer conference. GOLDEN SPIKE 2022. Saturday, July 30, 2022. We are looking forward to this and seeing many of you there. You will be re-energized.
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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THE BIG NEWS. WE ARE RELEASING A RFP TO DO A REPORT THAT WILL ANSWER THE BIG QUESTION. |
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WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO HAVE THE MCRT COMPLETED AND OPEN AS A 104 MILE LONG TRAIL
A TRAIL THAT INTERSECTS
WITH 17 OTHERS!
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Read the RFP. SPREAD THE WORD TO FRIENDS IN THE CONSULTANT INDUSTRY. |
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Another 2.3 miles of the MCRT begins construction in Ware and Gilbertville |
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National Grid has signed an agreement with East Quabbin Land Trust giving them permission to construct a trail on the 2.3 mile section of the MCRT in Gilbertville and Ware. Volunteers were recently brought-in to carefully clear invasives before the heavy construction equipment goes in this spring. Read more.
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Below here is the story from the Ware River News about the volunteer effort to clear invasives before the heavy construction begins later this spring.
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It is likely that this 2.3 mile section will be open in time for Golden Spike 2022 on July 30th. Read more
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National Grid is the 2nd largest owner of dead steam RR corridor in Massachusetts. Only the MBTA has more miles. In 2009, when Governor Patrick signed into law, a one-page tweak of the Recreational Use Statutes that named and forward both utilities and RRs as owners of land that might have recreational uses.
If owners of those properties opened them up to the public, then they'd have no liability issues. I'll never forget seeing the NGrid RE Department at the bill signing ceremony. Read More. |
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DID YOU KNOW THAT THE MCRT INTERSECTS
WITH SEVENTEEN OTHER TRAILS?
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A unique feature of a completed MCRT would be that it will enable users to explore all parts of the Commonwealth. On an experiential level, there is little to rival this in all of southern New England. Its easy access will facilitate discovery of the many unfamiliar regions of our state, many of which are somewhat isolated by geography. Large population centers in eastern and central Massachusetts can travel relatively short distances to experience our beautiful state. A growing list of current connecting trails and links to their websites for these connecting trails can be found by clicking on the image or here.
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Tom Kelleher of TKMaps.com put onto the Google map of the MCRT, an interactive map showing the Shared-use Path connections.
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LEARN MORE about our
GOLDEN SPIKE PLAQUES we present, at our GOLDEN SPIKE EVENTS
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Golden Spike 2022 is our 8th event. We have been giving out Golden Spike plaques to special people starting at GS2014 and GS 2018. For 2022 we will be awarding the 10 plaques that are seen above in my office.
To learn about the history of our celebrations from time to time that highlight these efforts to create the longest rail trail in the northeast, go to the site for for this summers' conference at https://www.gs2022.org/ Click on the button called: Past Golden Spike Events.
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A HISTORY OF OUR GS AWARDS |
At GS2018, we awarded Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito Golden Spike awards for their leadership in creating the Mass Trails Team to accelerate the development of rail trails in the commonwealth.
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An Infographic About the MCRT |
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Front side has a nice map and a concise write-up about each section |
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And here, on the 2nd page is a short chronological sequence on each section. |
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REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2022 GOLDEN SPIKE CONFERENCE
Saturday July 30, 2022
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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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Recently, Town Meeting voters in the Town of Bedford, MA narrowly rejected necessary land acquisitions for the town’s “Minuteman Bikeway Extension” project, a proposed 1.7-mile multi-use pathway that would have connected Bedford’s town center with the Concord town line at the western edge of the town.
The trail is also known as the Reformatory Branch Trail, an abandoned railway that spans four miles between the town centers of Concord and Bedford. At its eastern end, in Bedford, the proposed trail would connect to the existing Minuteman Bikeway; at its western end, in Concord, the trail ends about 2 miles from the expanding Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The Reformatory Branch is currently an unimproved and frequently muddy pathway for most of its length, and is only accessible to able-bodied hikers and mountain bikers. Read more
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Urban trails are part of the climate change solution by Amy McCullough. March 31, 2022 TPL Blog
There is a stand of quaking aspens hovering over Drake Avenue in Northeast Chicago. OK, it’s not hovering; the trees are planted there, flanking part of an elevated trail that connects 2.7 miles of natural beauty in a city of nearly 3 million people.
This is The 606. It’s one of many Trust for Public Land urban trail projects, and—in ways you might not readily imagine—it’s working to fight climate change. “The theory is somewhat simple,” explains TPL Trails Initiative Director J.T. Horn. “Instead of moving around a city in a car, you can move around a city on a bike or on foot. If you have a well-designed trail system, you avoid the greenhouse gas emissions related to traditional transportation,” e.g., cars.
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The Ying and the Yang in Swampscott with both a a pro-trail AND an anti trail essay. |
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Nature in the Neighborhood: Swampscott needs to ask, what would Olmsted do?
Toni Bandrowicz For Swampscott Conservancy
Olmsted is considered to be the father of American landscape architecture. He designed many urban parks, most famously, New York City’s Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace. This spring, across the country, cities and towns with connections to Olmsted will be observing the 200th anniversary of his birth. Read more
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OPINION: Rail trail is not the solution to Swampscott's green space issue Wicked Local
In response to the Swampscott Conservancy's letter advocating on behalf of the long deceased Frederick Olmsted for the rail trail, apparently they have insight into the personal thinking of someone who passed 120 years ago that we do not. Let’s hope they have some really good smelling salts and a Ouija board.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 Smallest New Yorkers Join the Pandemic Biking Surge
When Annie Weinstock began toting her two young children to day care and playgrounds on a cargo bike three years ago, she sometimes spotted one other family in her Brooklyn neighborhood riding a similar bike.
“We’d wave, because it seemed like such a strange thing,’’ said Ms. Weinstock, who lives in Carroll Gardens. Today, she added, “you see them all over the place, every day.”
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Senator Schumer calls for new Federal program to fund investment in outdoor industry
By NATASHA VAUGHN-HOLDRIDGE
Johnson Newspaper Corp.
KINDERHOOK — Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., visited Columbia County on Friday to outline new legislation aimed at invigorating the state’s outdoor industry.
Schumer chose a section of the Empire State Trail in Kinderhook as the site to discuss the Rural Outdoor Investment Act at a news conference.
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Cities Must Follow Through on Road Safety Plans. Here’s How.
There’s a way to overcome the political backlashes and bureaucratic delays that keep cities from implementing safety-focused street changes such as bike lanes.
by Angie Schmitt, April 4, 2022.
Not long ago, Los Angeles seemed ready to take on its notorious traffic congestion and build a more balanced, walkable and safer city — or at least improve on the status quo.
Approved in 2015, the city’s Mobility Plan 2035 staked out an ambitious vision for transformation: Over the next two decades, 1,500 miles of streets were to be overhauled for safety and walkability. But in the last seven years, only 3% of the plan has been completed. Read more.
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Read what Expedia has said about Sustainable Tourism as being the next big thing.
The pandemic provided our industry with a unique opportunity to reevaluate and reimagine how we look at sustainability and, as destinations begin to rebuild, make meaningful changes to help preserve our planet for future generations to explore.
Destinations are reactivating their marketing strategies, helping travelers discover or, in many cases rediscover, what it is that makes their location so distinct and memorable.
Restarting tourism slowly and driving demand in a deliberate-yet-responsible way can help destinations thrive for travelers and local communities alike. 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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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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