Rail Trail Newsletter #91 -  November 2024

• After 42+ years of service, one of the earliest municipally-built rail trails in the northeast gets repaved.

• Short, 3.5 minute video that tells the story very succinctly as to why it is so important to:  FinishTheRailTrail.org

• Northampton Bike path between Bridge Rd., State St. closed starting Oct. 28

• Mass DCR to start snowplowing the Norwottuck section of the MCRT

• A Chili Cook-off to benefit efforts to build out the MCRT in Clinton

• We are donating an exciting item to the Chili Cook-off's Silent Auction!

• Choose your tour: Biking Tour of the Williamsburg Branch of the Canal Division of the former New Haven Railroad or a Walking Tour of the History and visible archaeology of the former Williamsburg Branch of the New Haven Railroad in Florence Center

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #90 -  October 2024

• MassTrails Conference. Even more, there will even be a Virtual Kick-Off Event about the Mass Central Rail Trail.

• Boston TV's CHRONICLE program about the Mass Central Rail Trail

• New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway's Westfield section wins a national award.

• AN INNOVATIVE NEW PROGRAM IN NY BEING SETUP TO BENEFIT COMMUNITIES NEAR BOTH THE NEW ADIRONDACK RAIL TRAIL AND THE NEARBY TOURIST RAILROAD.

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Rail Trail Newsletter #89 -  October 2024

• Three-day. bike ride aims to finish 100+ mile trail By Paula Ouimette pouimette@turley.com

• CT’s longest rail trail nearing completion but faces two major obstacles By Don Stacom | Hartford Courant 9-24-24

• How the gaps  in the CT rail trail can be filled.

• NHDOT officials given extension to respond to Derry Rail Trail lawsuit

• Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester 9-26-24

• Northern Rail Trail extension to Concord stuck in limbo

• The Future is Local. Why "place based branding" makes sense. When we were organizing our cross-state ride--Ride N2B on the MCRT, and we discovered the lack of suitable lodging in the middle of the state

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Rail Trail Newsletter #88 -  September 2024

• THE BIG THREE-DAY WEEKEND IS COMING UP. SEPT 20, 21, 22   - RIDE N2B ON THE MCRT

• A follow up to the story about Steven Hawk's Go Fund Me page

• More news about the MCRT that you probably didn't know.   https://www.finishtherailtrail.org/

• New website – FinishTheRailTrail.org, which includes a robust, visual history of the MCRT through an Arc GIS Story Map format of the 40+ year journey thus far.

• An effort to get all the 26 communities along the MCRT corridor to write a letter of support, urging the state to finish the rail trail.

• Letters from the City of Northampton and from the Town of Hardwick.

• VT, Planning for the Hoot, Toot and Whistle Trail upgrade chugs along

• How E-Bikes Won Over Europe - Battery-powered bicycles now outsell pedal-only ones across several European countries.

• More than 100 miles of Tahoe trails will soon open to e-bikes: ‘It’s gonna be a big moment’

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Rail Trail Newsletter #87 -  April - June 2024

• A Go-Fund-Me that still needs your support - One of the lead advocates for the MCRT is Steven Hawk. Injured in a car crash 20+ years ago

• Sat. June 8th. A walk to the rare Timber-bent Bridge over the Jabish Brook. More about the the Belchertown Greenway section of the MCRT.

• 3 day ride with accommodations for the core group of 12 explorers is fully booked now. we have slots for 25 riders per day on the Western, Central and Eastern sections

• A photo essay by Kevin LaHaise publisher of the Sudbury Weekly about the Bridges on MCRT

• A 3 PAGE update about construction on the  MCRT and the BFRT in Sudbury.

• Battle in RI Over Bike Lane Escalates — Council Blocks Mayor, Cost to Remove Is Estimated at $750K

• 25 years in the making so far, in NH - exciting news! The state of New Hampshire now owns the entire Hampton branch of the former Boston & Maine Rail corridor,  part of the East Coast Greenway Project connecting Maine to Florida. 

• New 3,000-foot floating boardwalk allows visitors to "walk on water" in Marlboro, MA

• New hope for a significant CT greenway.  A push to convert a desolate, 4-mile stretch of rail line in Hartford

• Why is riding a Bicycle in the City Turning into a Culture War. Momentum Magazine by Ron Johnson

• World’s largest wildlife crossing on track to open by early 2026 in California

• Colorado's Bold New Approach to Highways--Not Building Them!

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #86 - March 2024

• A Go-Fund-Me that needs your support - One of the lead advocates for the MCRT is Steven Hawk. Injured in a car crash 20+ years ago

• We've been granted access to a genuine GOOGLE STREETMAP camera and we are documenting the entire MCRT corridor

• Next Phase of Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Could Happen Fast  Sudbury Weekly By Kevin Lahaise 

• Help Maintain Waltham's Trails and Parks. Join volunteer trail stewards of the Waltham Land Trust to serve as the "eyes and ears" of our shared open space!

• Here's the official 25% design hearing led by MassDOT for Belmont's Phase 1 section of the MCRT

• New Haven to create new trail connecting Farmington Canal Line and East Coast Greenway by Lily Belle Poling,  Reporter, Yale Daily News

• In a recent construction trade magazine is a story about a newly developed porous or permeable pavement that provides an interesting improvement in developing trails with a permeable surface near to water resources like reservoirs.

• $117 million federal grant boosts Queens Way Project: A 3.5-mile greenway connecting six neighborhoods in NYC

• Bike lanes are good for business...Study after study proves it. So why do so many shops and restaurants still oppose better streets?

• How the Netherlands Built a Successful Bike Infrastructure

• Meet the Retirees Cycling Into Their Golden Years BY ERIN GIFFORD March 15, 2024 Conde' Nast Traveler

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Rail Trail Newsletter #85 - February 2024

• Friday, January 19, 2024, NN hosted an all day facilitated workshop about the MCRT, about the steps needed to FinishTheRailTrail

• The first time we had a cross-state workshop about how to get the MCRT finished. Or as our new landing page URL says: FinishTheRailTrail

• Presentation by Tom Baird, P.E. working for Baird & Loguidice in Albany, NY talking about how the NYC Water Dept built a rail trail alongside the reservoir that provides 40% of the water to NYC.

• Sudbury's Economic Development Efforts Gain Momentum BY KEVIN LAHAISE

• MassDOT Expands Multimodal Connectivity Across Massachusetts with 20 Miles of Shared Use Paths Opened in 2023

• YES YOU ARE SEEING IT RIGHT. A 25% DESIGN HEARING BY MASSDOT IS COMING TO BELMONT. ONLY 25+ YEARS IN.

• Belmont Citizens Forum publishes a great news-letter about things happening in town.

• Here's an RFP to find a consultant interested looking at our websites to do a refresh

• New Trails We Can Look Forward to in Mass in 2024

• Celebrating the newly open Manchester, VT Rail Trail

• A book that teaches you how to build a trail

• Peabody and MassDOT discuss plans for a major extension of the Peabody Independence Greenway that includes two pedestrian bridges, with one spanning over Route 1, during a virtual public hearing.

• NY Residents and officials in Castleton-on-Hudson are preparing for a hearing in the village’s fight to create a safe crossing over Amtrak rail lines

• Just Another, and Another, and Another Pedestrian Killed on State Street, Springfield

• In the monthly magazine AARP, there is a story about Betsy Johnson, a resident of Spfld and a force to be reckoned with.

• Gov. Hochul in NY announces $13 million to help complete the Adirondack Rail Trail BY EMILY RUSSELL

• Here's a great podcast interview of Peter Harnik on Resources Radio with Margaret Walls

• Here's a story about something new. Jeff Speck has partnered with Chris Dempsey formerly of Transportation 4 Mass to form a new firm. SpeckDempsey, 

• Hartford CT beginning to look at the idea of a Greenway through the urban core next to the active RR.