Rail Trail Newsletter #99 - August 2025

• Mass DOT recently broke ground on the Lawrence Manchester Rail Trail Corridor improvement project that seeks to turn part of an abandoned rail line into an approximately 1.5-mile shared use path.

• Since 2019, MassTrails has been championing a growing network of over 1,000 miles of trails and paths across Massachusetts

• After six years of delays (for reasons out of the City's control), the Concord, NH City Council voted to purchase of 5.75 miles of abandoned railroad corridor.

• Two people were seriously injured Thursday evening in separate trail bike crashes on the Sugar River Rail Trail in Newport, New Hampshire Fish and Game officials said.

• Here is the one-minute trailer for Peter Harnik's new documentary. Coming out this fall on PBS. Don't miss it!

• For some Boston-area parents, minivans are out. E-bikes are in.

• Across the globe, cities are trying to figure out how to make transportation more inclusive, especially active transportation.By Spencer Buell Globe Staff

 

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #98 - June/July 2025

• A race for the Cat - Mayor of the MCRT in Somerville. NBC 10 Boston

• Hudson planners are gearing up for the next major step in building the town’s section of the MCRT.

• Welcome to the Roads Less Travelled Podcast!

• Neponset River Greenway extension quietly opens to the public ahead of July 4

• By Seth Daniel, News Editor, Dorchester Reporter, 7-3-25

• MassDOT Reveals New Designs, Timeline for Delayed Mystic River Car-Free Bridge Project

• Bridgegate: Old Vt.-NH connectors to be closed to pedestrians By Bob Audette, Brattleboro Reformer

• About the Derry, NH Court Case. . ...A federal judge on Monday made good on his vow to rule by the end of June on the ongoing battle between state and federal transportation officials

• Another great story about a rail trail by Ted Reinstein of Boston TV 5 Chronicle Show. This one is about the famous Blackstone Heritage Corridor near Worcester

• Mr. Everything' of Keene trail system honored by bridge's new name. By Sophia Keshmiri, Keene Sentinel Staff

• Why is Riding a Bicycle in the City Turning Into a Culture War? Ron Johnson, Momentum Magazine

• After contentious Town Meeting over easements for new shared-use path, Williamsburg Select Board poised to call special meeting Sam Gelinas, Daily Hampshire Gazette

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #97 - May 2025

• Mr. Everything' of Keene trail system honored by bridge's new name. By Sophia Keshmiri, Keene Sentinel Staff

• WARE RIVER NEWS - Residents discuss Trail proposal

• Wow! Paving the MCRT in Sudbury is underway right now!

• Two video presentations about the MCRT

• Craig Della Penna speaks at The Springfield Museums on May 8th at their Thursday speaker series--Museums

• Mass Parks for All is working with key state senators to get more funds with our state parks.

• Call for interest in serving on the Massachusetts Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board

• Koopman Lumber Donates $45K to Support Blackstone Heritage Corridor

• New Haven section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail finally opens. 'A long time coming' By Mark Zaretsky

• Rhode Island Bill would change bike path traffic patterns. Hearing is set to consider changes to lanes of travel for riders, walkers

• Rail trail item at Lynnfield Town Meeting by Anne Marie Tobin

• MassDOT Is Filling Gaps In the Border to Boston Trail

• Updates on the Mystic River bike and pedestrian bridge, new trail connections in Peabody, and rail trail upgrades for rural Essex County

• Derry Rail Trail: How a promised tunnel became a bridge too far

• How an Arkansas City Became an Epicenter of the Biking World. By Emily Cochrane

• Buoyed by the interests of the family behind Walmart, Bentonville has become an unexpected hub for cycling. 

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #95 - March 2025

• The remake of the Linden Street Bridge in Waltham to be open for bikes and pedestrians.

• Linden Street railroad bridge may be restored by end of 2025. By Christian Maitre,  Waltham Times March 11, 2025

• Creating Multi-Use Trails While Enhancing Reliability (from Eversource's March, 2025 e-Newsletter)

• The Springfield Museums has invited Craig Della Penna to speak on May 8th at their Thursday speaker series--Museums à la Carte.

• A couple of months ago, the Selectboard in the Town of Weston weighed-in, in support of "Finishing the Rail Trail". Now we are seeing the development of an official  Weston Pedestrian & Bike Plan.

• And in Ware, The town's only hospital, (now closed) Mary Lane Hospital--owned by BayState Health,  The Friends of Mary Lane Hospital, a 600 member friends group, has become leaders in effort to find a good route through the downtown to connect the MCRT to Grenville Park to the north.

• South Coast Bikeway Alliance writes to the MassDOT Secretary of Transportation urging the state continue funding bike-ped projects--in the face of uncertainty from the happenings in DC.

• Should Barnstable cut down 91 trees for the Cape Cod Rail Trail? Public hearing March 19. Heather McCarron Cape Cod Times 3-14-25

• 2013 Letter from the Mass Secretary of Transportation urging that we build more rail-w-trail projects.  https://www.norevisionisthistory.org/rails-w-trails

• Trump Administration Takes Aim at Bike Lanes and other projects.

• U.S. DOT Orders Review of All Grants Related to Green Infrastructure, Bikes.  USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy is coming for our bike lanes  by StreetsBlog

• The Trump Administration has started its attempts to claw back Biden-era USDOT grants for a slew of projects

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #94 - February 2025

• Select board in the Town of Hadley weighs-in, in support of Finishing the Rail Trail.

• Let's be careful out there on the trail.  From the Daily Hampshire Gazette

• Select board in the Town of Hudson weighs-in, in support of Finishing the Rail Trail.

• Select board in the Town of Weston weighs-in, in support of Finishing the Rail Trail. Read More.

• On Tuesday February 18th, the Select board in Belchertown voted to write a letter of support encouraging the state to Finish the Mass Central Rail Trail.

• City of East Somerville will install lighting on the dark segments of the community path.

• CT Heritage Corridor: How the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail Is Sparking Connections and Community Prosperity in Connecticut By: Cory Matteson

• A popular Connecticut walking trail follows a defunct rail line not even locals know about!

• Congressman Richard Neal visits North Adams to celebrate over $17 million in federal funding to expand the Ashuwillticook throughout the Northern Berkshires

• Building out the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, better connecting the Berkshires. Lauren R. Stevens | The View from White Oaks, The Berkshire Eagle

• Berkshire Magazine feature about Paul Jahnige and the Mass Office of Outdoor Recreation (MOOR) and more tidbits.

• EASTERN TRAIL IN MAINE CONNECTIVITY STUDY AND COMMUNITY MEETING RECORDING By Jamie Perkins 11/21/24, The Enterprise

• The state might fund part of a rail trail in Warner, NH. Local residents fear ‘degrading’ environmental impacts  By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY Concord Monitor

• Study shows why bike lane projects are controversial and what cities can do to make it easier by Ron Johnson. Momentum Magazine

• How, when and why Seattle started to shift into a bike-friendlier city. Feb. 8, 2025 By Tom Fucoloro, The Seattle Times

• In Boston, who has the right to public space? Cyclists or drivers?

 

 

Rail Trail Newsletter #93 - January 2025

• Here's a concise update about what happened along the MCRT this year, in a nice video format. Click here to see the video.

• Here's a nice video about the Northern Rail Trail in NH. This is the longest rail trail project in NH and one of the more notable due to its heavily volunteer-based aspect.

• Our complete list of important and positive events on the MCRT. 

• Draw One Bridge will not have pedestrian path that was promised as mitigation from Big Dig By Sean Flannelly, Cambridge Day.

• Link here to the 1995 plan that promised the bike-ped path alongside the Draw Bridge. Been waiting for only 30 years now.

• State Rep. Michelle Ciccolo, co-chair of the Trails Caucus in the Mass Statehouse, announced the formation of the TRAILS ACCESS WORKING GROUP

• Fall rail trail improvements in NH are complete, more to come in 2025

• MassDOT Celebrates Mass Being Ranked 2nd in the Nation for Bicycling

• 45.2 new miles of Greenway Trail Constructed across New York

• Bourne - Rail-With-Trail Alternative Proposed For Rail Trail Phase 2 By Jamie Perkins 11/21/24, The Enterprise

• Rail Trail gets $125,000 grant from Gov. Hochul  - Judith O'Hara Balfe, Millerton News

• An update from the town’s Lynnfield-Wakefield Rail Trail team provided a positive outlook

• Trump Taps Business Associate Of Megadonor Timothy Mellon For Federal Railroad  Admin Role 

• Bike lanes save lives, so why are you still complaining?

• Dread your commute? These folks suggest trying a trail instead by Kate Kampner Community News Service, VT

• ​Under construction since 2021, this greenway, named for the champion boxer