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Date: 4/13/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – The town of Southampton received $100,000 from a state grant to help purchase an inactive railroad corridor, 3.5-miles in length from the town line with Easthampton to the center of Southampton.
The town intends to design this multi-use trail in a corridor linking Easthampton’s Manhan Trail and connecting to the Westfield Columbia Greenway.
“This grant funding will allow for the eventual purchase of this defunct rail lines, which actually moves us to actually having a greenway through Southampton” said state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, who added that $350,000 will be needed to complete the purchase of the rail bed. The $100,000 gives Southampton a “leg up” for now as they find more sources for funding.
According to Sabadosa, this project has been “years and years” in the making, as many community members have been pushing for something of this nature within the city. “There’s a rail trail greenway in Easthampton, and there’s one in Westfield … And Southampton is sort of the missing link,” Sabadosa added.
The 3.5 miles that the city and state are looking to turn into a greenway is part of a much larger state project to make Massachusetts a place where people can bike from one side of the state to the other. “This is the piece that we need to see done to make that route connected in Western Massachusetts, so it’s very exciting,” Sabadosa said.
Considering there are many moving parts to this, Sabadosa said that the timing of the purchase is still up in the air. There is currently some legislation pending with regard to the project, but funding will be needed once the railroad is purchased.
According to Sabadosa, the railroad has been inactive for “decades.”
“[The trail] really does connect Western Massachusetts and provides a way for people to commute to work,” said Sabadosa. “I think the number of benefits – there are just too many to list quite honestly.”
Ed Gibson, the town administrator for Southampton, said that the $100,000 is a “step in the right direction” for the city to acquire the railway. He added that the connection to the Westfield rail trail could take a number of years, but allow for Southampton residents to go south when completed. The connection to the Easthampton trail will be completed first, and would allow for Southampton residents to easily go north.
“There are a good number of people here in Southampton that enjoy the rail trail, but they have to go somewhere else to access it,” said Gibson, who added that this trail will allow residents to bike more, which in turn will improve the town’s carbon footprint and keep cars off the road. “[The Southampton rail trail] will definitely be an improvement and a positive change in life experience for our residents.”
According to Gibson, the town has been trying to acquire this corridor for ten years at this point, and is currently trying to gather the rest of the funds for the project through other grant opportunities. When Gibson arrived as town administrator in 2018, the town was working with the prior owner of this portion of the railroad, but neither party could come to an agreement for the town to acquire it.
“Once we are able to put all the money together, it might take maybe another year after that to put all the pieces together to work through the entire process,” Gibson said.