Read more.

The new Columbia Greenway Rail Trail bridge at Main Street.

WESTFIELD – The two riders pulled their bikes to a halt and peered through the chain link fence at the steel and concrete bridge on the other side. They were disappointed that the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail ended at Main Street, but are anxious for the new downtown section to open. Read more.

Our bed & breakfast, Sugar Maple Trailside Inn that sits 8' from the rail trail, was was featured on a site about local businesses. Our 20th anniversary of being here is coming up. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun.

Read that story. And Here's how the robust solar came to be .

Construction started on the Farmington Canal Trail in New Haven by: Kent Pierce

It spans 84 miles from Massachusetts to New Haven, and soon the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail will be two blocks longer.

For years now, anyone walking, jogging, or biking on the Farmington Canal trail in New Haven has gotten as far as Temple Street and had to stop at the metal bars, but that is about to change.

Workers for C. J. Fucci Construction have only just begun, but already you can see the difference in the trench of the old canal between Whitney and Orange Streets. CLICK HERE

by STEVE COLLINS

AUBURN – There is “growing momentum” in the area to create a rail trail that would extend along an unused section of track that stretches from Auburn to Portland.

Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said this week that he expects many people “will love to hike and bike and walk” along the corridor.

The unused rail line stretching from Danville Junction in Auburn to Portland’s East End is state-owned. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad’s lease to the line expires this year. That leaves officials with the option to do something with the property. Read More.

COVID sparked a bike boom across America, but a new study of one Virginia city shows that communities who prioritized building protected bike paths saved the most lives – and would have done so with or without the virus.

In a report released recently, researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety dug into the nuances of America’s (still-ongoing) pandemic-era bike boom by scrutinizing the spatial and temporal distribution of pre- and post-lockdown bicycle trip counts and crash counts in the city of Arlington. Read more.

How a 21-mile rail trail holds the key to happiness, health, and prosperity for Manchester, NH residents Sunday, August 22, By Jason Soukup MANCHESTER

Currently, the Granite State Rail Trail, an almost contiguous 125-mile rail-trail that runs diagonally across New Hampshire from the Northwest corner to Salem with a 21-mile gap that excludes Manchester residents from enjoying the health and social benefits and increased economic activity that a rail trail will bring to the community. This 21-miles of little-used rail line can be converted to an active transportation corridor, a shared-use trail used for jogging, walking, and biking.

Unequivocally, both regional and city planning documents have confirmed that a rail with trail along the Merrimack River is the best path through Manchester.

Yet Manchester residents and the wider Manchester economy are still cut out of the opportunities of their rightful place on the rail trail.

Read more.

Metro West, an area just west of Boston, has lots of exciting projects nearing completion. They recently had an event geared towards talking about the next steps. Read more

By Rosalyn Impink Correspondent Aug 14, 2021

Though summer may be drawing to a close, the North Shore continues to offer recreation opportunities beyond beaches and camping. If you’re looking to get up to the coast for sea breezes and exercise, seek out the area’s im­pressive network of paved trails for walking and biking.

The Coastal Trails Network is made up of more than 20 miles of multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trails crossing through Amesbury, Newbury, New­buryport, and Salisbury. Read more.

After months of planning, NHRTC is pleased to announce that tickets for our October 16 Statewide Rail Trails Conference are now available. We have an exciting agenda to share and very knowledgeable speakers to address a wide range of useful topics.

Please CLICK HERE to view the event invitation letter from NHRTC Vice President and NH Rail Trails book author Charles Martin. (Yes, the same Charles Martin who was one of the early advocates in the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail effort when he lived in Concord, MA, about 20 years ago. CDP)

Our event flyer CLICK HERE provides an overview of topics to be covered in the two-part Zoom session.

You may have heard about the Merrymeeting Trail, a 26-mile multi-use trail that would join the Kennebec River Rail Trail in the north to the Androscoggin River Bicycle and Pedestrian Path in the south, linking Augusta to Brunswick (and one day to Bath!) in an incredible “capital to coast” connection.

For over a decade, towns and volunteers along the route have worked to make this vision for connected communities a reality. It’s exciting to see that their efforts are bearing fruit. Read more.

August 26, 2021 James Leggate

A project in Kansas City is drawing comparisons to New York City’s High Line and the Chicago Riverwalk.

Developer Flying Truss, LLC, is planning to redevelop the Rock Island Bridge, a disused early 20th century steel truss railroad bridge, into what it calls a “destination landmark bridge.” Read more. (We should do this sort of a project in downtown Northampton on one of the extra RR bridges over Rt 9. CDP)

August 24, 2021 by Tom Fucoloro

For decades, a small public space along the Burke-Gilman Trail just north of the Seattle city limit has been hidden behind a private fence. But no more.

It took a remarkable amount of work to open this small space. Volunteers on a county advisory committee learned about the illegal fence and other private structures a decade ago Those volunteers — including Stuart Strand, who alerted me to the project and sent the photos — urged the county to take action to reclaim the space, resulting in a court battle that ultimately went in King County’s favor. Read more.