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Date: 4/6/2021
WESTERN MASS. – The Mill River Greenway is undergoing many projects, with the most substantial and protracted being a shared use path.
According to their website, “The Mill River Greenway Initiative is the community-based steward for the Mill River, which runs from Goshen, through Williamsburg and Northampton in Western Massachusetts. The Mill River’s tributaries lie in the towns of Ashfield, Conway, Whately, Hatfield, Chesterfield, Westhampton and Easthampton.”
Gaby Immerman, co-moderator of the Mill River Greenway Initiative and chair of Williamsburg Mill River Greenway committee, said her committee consists of three elected Select Board members along with part-time administrators. There are 11 seats in total.
Immerman said this initiative began in 2009, with the aim to help the town through community outreach, along with restoring ecological health.
The town of Williamsburg has two village centers – Haydenville and downtown Williamsburg. Immerman said, there is no way to safely walk or bike between those two miles of village centers. There are no sidewalks and there is not enough room for safe travel.
“Kids living in one village can’t walk or bike to school, they need to be driven,” said Immerman.
The path will be a 10-foot shared use paved trail and will be built on public property. The entire project will be fit into the right of way of Route 9. This will run alongside the river, separated by plantings and a guardrail.
“The intention and plan for this is to connect the two, but also taking on how to connect River Greenway to the Mass Central Railway,” said Immerman.
Northampton has an extensive rail trail connecting everywhere. That network currently dead ends at the Northampton-Haydenville line. Therefore, the Mill River Greenway shared use project will double as a two-mile extension to reach the Mass Central.
Currently, the project is in the implementation process. DOT has taken over the engineering cost and design, Immerman explained.
“This went from a gleam of the eye, to 25 percent design complete in 12 years – that’s fast,” claimed Immerman.
The other 75 percent is the hurdles – budgeting and logistics.
“I am very proud and gratified with the efforts,” she added.
Immerman said, they are on pace to break ground in 2025-2026.
In addition to the shared use path, Mill River Greenway has been working closely with fifth graders at Anne T. Dunphy School in Williamsburg.
Immerman said her committee has intentionally been engaging with public and neighborhood forums, along with reaching out to the school. This is done to ensure that as the project moves along, there is a sense of ownership, she added.
Most importantly, Immerman and her team want everyone to thrive and believe this project is a good idea.
Anne T. Dunphy school is extremely supportive of river curriculum. Katy Joyce, fifth grade teacher, has worked with the Mill River Greenway for two years now.
Immerman described Joyce as a “brilliant and inspiring teacher.” Also, “She provides multi-layered learning that culminates students presenting their work.”
Last year, Joyce’s class created art and poetry related to the river. There was an exhibition at the local library to display their art on the walls.
This year, they are co-creating a project with the fifth graders to create a site design that will be a terminus intersection of South St. and Route 7.
“We asked them to imagine the Greenway and what they want to see outside of their school,” said Immerman.
There are many ideas that the Mill River Greenway can be used for, such as using the pavement markings to learn metrics.
“We engage directly with the teachers and students and then feed that to the committees and engineers.” stated Immerman.
With endless possibilities that the Mill River Greenway will bring, Immerman looks forward to the future and fusing of the Williamsburg/Haydenville community.
For additional information on the Mill River Greenway projects, visit millrivergreenway.org.