Rail Trail Newsletter SPECIAL EDITION - August 2023

• MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL CONFERENCE 10-14-23

• Golden Spike 2023 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

• A SYNOPSIS OF ALL OUR TOURS

• COME JOIN US FOR A FUN TIME IN A BEAUTIFUL AREA OF METRO-WEST

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Rail Trail Newsletter #79 - July 2023

• A VISION COMING TRUE: Study finds 104-mile rail trail connecting Northampton-Boston would generate millions, increase health

• Norwottuck Network backs completion of Mass. Central Rail Trail system

• Waltham Gets $500K Grant For Linden Street Bridge Restoration

• A study initiated by the Norwottuck Network to assess the benefits of the completion of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail

• Episode 170: July 10, 2023 - Joe Bednar talks about the MCRT with Craig Della Penna.

• 2 lectures coming up in September 9-20-23 @ 1:00 PM, a Zoom webinar for Walk Massachusetts,  9-27-23 @ 7:00 PM, in-person and on Zoom at Historic Northampton.

• SAVE THE DATE!! Our 9th GOLDEN SPIKE CONFERENCE will be held on Saturday 10-14-23 at the AmVets facility at 79 Superior Dr. Natick.

• Deal reached to extend Twin Cities Rail Trail to downtown Leominster

• Inside North Central Massachusetts: On The Trail at the Twin Cities Rail Trail.

• Ron Chick and Mary Kate Feeney from Framingham are going to be tour leaders for TOUR 6 at the Golden Spike 2023 conference in Natick on Oct 14, 2023.

• Hometown Hero: The long and winding road in Concord, NH is off and running.

• Westfield physician is bicycling from Pacific to Atlantic to benefit rail trail 

• Another Gap's Gone On the Northern Strand Trail In Everett, MA

• New rail trail bridge in Slingerlands, NY buckles during construction

• As Downtowns Struggle, Businesses Learn to Love Bike Lanes 

• Corporate Landscaping tries something different.

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #78 - June 2023

• Important and compelling report was released. with a survey

• Community Path in Somerville opens on June 10, 2023

• NH DOT's Derry Rail Trail design drops a tunnel - and users' hopes for safety

• MassDOT Announces New Interactive Priority Trails Network Vision Map for Statewide Shared-Use Paths

• Looking for a fun place to go on a hike? --The Keystone Arch Bridges

• On Cape Cod, half of this highway is being turned into a bike path to connect Provincetown, MA, to the beach

• Walking the Wachusett Aqueduct in Northborough brings history to life 

• Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces Over $11 Million in Grant Funding for 68 Trail Improvement Projects in Massachusetts.

• Governor Phil Scott and Senator Bernie Sanders to Celebrate the Newly Completed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. 

• Vermont Gov. Phil Scott saddles up on Sat, July 15, for a 93-mile bike ride to celebrate the official opening of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

• The newly opened Shining Tides mile of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail is part of the South Coast Bikeway.

• City of Fall River completes extension of Alfred J. Lima Quequechan River Rail Trail

• Leave a Legacy: Build a Trail - Older adults are working together to leave a lasting legacy of scenic trails

• Santa Monica’s Ocean Ave Protected Bikeway Installation Captures the World’s Attention 

• US Cities Are Failing Their Female Cyclists  

• Installing bike racks can also heavily benefit your local business

• Boston Mayor Wu Admin Announces ‘Safety Surge’ of Traffic Calming for Neighborhood Street.

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #77 - May 2023

• THE REPORT and a 1 page summary of the Statewide Connections Benefits Report

• Benefits of shared use paths

• Cambridge Crossing arrives after two decades. It was worth the wait.

• Slide presentation showing construction in Sudbury on both the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Mass Central Rail Trail

• MBTA In Court Over Lawsuit Involving Mass Central Rail in Sudbury

• Unresolved Accessibility Issues Push Somerville Community Path Opening to Mid-June 

• SAVE THE DATE!! Our 9th GOLDEN SPIKE CONFERENCE will be held on Saturday 10-14-23 

• Compelling Letter by Craig Della Penna to Maine about the Mt. Division trail.

• FRIENDS OF THE SOUTHAMPTON GREENWAY Meeting for 2023!! 

• The Northern Strand Trail Is Growing In Lynn and Everett

• Fall River is building more rail trail, with a goal to connect Cape Cod to RI by bike

• Europe just got its first solar-covered cycling path 

• During the pandemic, cities opened their streets to pedestrians. So what now?

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​Rail Trail Newsletter #76 - March 2023

• MBTA Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit That Could Stall Mass Central Rail Trail

• 3 Major MetroWest Trail Projects Are Under Construction In 2023

• LOOKING FOR A FUN FAMILY ACTIVITY? SATURDAY, APRIL 22 FROM 10-2. "PARK SERVE DAY"

• Our interactive MCRT map is coming back to life.

• SAVE THE DATE!! Our 9th GOLDEN SPIKE CONFERENCE will be held on Saturday 10-14-23

• LYNN/NAHANT BIKE LANES MAPPED OUT

• Westfield City Council asked to sign letter joining the 81- mile rail trail

• The Mattapoisett Bike Path - Bike Path Boardwalk Opening Soon

• Officials on Cape Cod Now Open To Removing Rail Line For Bike Path

• Legislative Budget writers back NH DOT in Derry rail trail dispute

• UNPAVED TRAILS FOR ALL.

• Northfield seeks $12.5M federal grant to replace Schell Bridge

• Keeping the Cochituate Rail Trail in Natick tidy

• Vigil for Crash Victims Amplifies Need for Safer Streets in Springfield

• Chicopee suffers third fatal pedestrian accident on one Chicopee Street since November

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​Rail Trail Newsletter #75 - February 2023

• Sadly, we have to report that our friend, Tom Kelleher suddenly and unexpectedly passed away

• Lawsuit Over Sudbury Eversource, Rail Trail Project Dismissed By Judge

• Mass Central Rail Trial Economic Study with Kittelson & Associates is still under-development

• The Town of Ware is building a kiosk dedicated to Steven Hawk

• Magazine article by Craig Della Penna related to rail trails and living next to one.

• Leominster and Fitchburg’s New Rail-Trail Gets Creative With Winter Maintenance

• Lamoille Valley Rail Trail expects to open mid 2023

• Op-ed piece from 2003, for the Hardwick, VT Newspaper, that talked about why the railroad wasn't economically viable anymore and why it needed to become a trail.

• Another editorial by Atty. Hans Huessy in the Stowe, VT newspaper, 15+ years later, in 2019 and the trail still wasn't built.

• As the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail nears completion, northern Vt. towns prepare for tourists

• Danville's 151-year-old train station is getting a makeover

• Maine State council backs the creation of a new rail trail between Auburn and Portland

• Revival: The Story of the Minuteman Bikeway

• Here's where the well loved Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is heading next in Pittsfield 

• Schumer Launches Major Push For New Funding-YONKERS

• Five Covered RR Bridges are still standing on some rail trails in VT and NH.

• And here is Tim Blagden and his wife and daughter on the Concord & Lake Sunapee Rail Trail in NH.

• Long Island Greenway May Roll Through South Fork: 175-mile route would be like Empire State Trail

• The Open Space Institute unveils Ambitious Growing Greenways Plan

• City of Springfield Wins $15 Million to Improve Street Safety Citywide 

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​Rail Trail Newsletter #74 - January 2023

• Clinton trail development work is in process!

• Feds Decline Sudbury Rail Line Case, Opponents Say They 'Can Prevail'

• Friends of the Belchertown Greenway felt it was necessary to take a look at the old trestle bridge over the Jabish Brook 

• Maine DOT unveils a series of plans across their entire spectrum of realms.

• Rail trail running through Dutchess and Columbia Counties in eastern NY gets $375,000 grant

• $3 Million earmarked for the BFRT's new Framingham segment

• Trails caucus to be re-launched in state Legislature BOSTON

• 6,000 days later: Framingham on track to buy corridor for rail trail

• Framingham Mayor Finalizes Purchase Of 3.5 Miles For Freeman Rail Trail

• Who Doesn't Want A Bike Path On Wauwinet Road, Nantucket?  Wauwinet Property Owners

• The big news in this issue is that Southampton has purchased their dead RR

• Westfield rail trail’s downtown extension on track for spring opening 

• 3 new segments of VT's Lamoille Valley Rail Trail open 

• National Trade Magazine for the electrical utility industry talking about a need to put a lot of the grid underground.

• Eversource installing electric cables under the Shining Sea Trail in Falmouth this winter.