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Date: 7/5/2023
SOUTHAMPTON — Town officials received word last week that a Mass Trails grant for $320,000 was awarded for design, engineering and permitting work on the proposed Greenway Rail Trail.
The rail trail will begin at Sheldon’s Ice Cream, a popular spot on Route 9, and end 3.5 miles later, near the town border with Westfield. According to Aaron Tauscher, a volunteer with the town’s Greenway Committee, at that point the town will work with Westfield to figure out how to close the last gap.
“It doesn’t completely close the gap between existing trails, but we’re starting at Coleman Road in Southampton, where Easthampton’s Manhan Rail Trail ends,” Tauscher said. “We’re going to where the rail lines intersect with Rt. 10, College Highway…[so] it gets a good chunk of usable land and existing rail corridor up to speed.”
The award was the second for the project from Mass. Trails, the program in the state Parks and Recreation Division devoted to trail blazing and building. The local project will be a long process with several phases. The current engineering phase will continue for another couple of years, Tauscher said, and be finished under the new grant.
“The overall design, bridge inspection, surveying, wetlands delineation, things like that, it takes two to three years, in general,” Tauscher said. “We expect that to be ongoing…but we’re nearly there, and otherwise the overall design is actually in pretty good shape.”
Tighe & Bond, an environmental design company based in Westfield, is contracted to do the design work.
The priority now for Tauscher’s committee is to solicit input from town residents and abutters to the trail to make sure all the important pieces of the project can be considered and researched. As town officials uncover new concerns or questions Tighe & Bond will be notified. At the same time, the company has presented work and findings on the condition of bridges, for example, as information is confirmed.
The Greenway trail features several bridges. Tauscher said the latest word is the foundations of the bridges are in “reliable” shape, that no major reconstruction or demolition and rebuilding is anticipated. That’s good news. Foundation work would add significant expense. Decking and safety features will still need to be replaced and updated.
Tauscher said the project doesn’t face any unusual hurdles, nothing that other communities in the area haven’t dealt with. Parking may be a challenge. At this point, no options for parking around Sheldon’s Ice Cream have been identified. There’s not much space in the area and the committee doesn’t have an answer to that challenge yet.
“We want to restrict things like trespassing and usage of fields and pastures,” Tauscher said. “We want to make sure we have privacy fencing…to help gain the support of abutters and make sure it’s safe for everyone.”
Abutters were recently sent a letter through the mail notifying them that surveyors may be working on the trail in the coming months. The Greenway Committee will also be active this fall, soliciting input from abutters and residents. The committee hopes to get people out on the trail bed itself, where challenges and concerns can be viewed up close. The committee will then have another opportunity to ascertain the main priorities of abutters and future users.
One priority that may impact the design is access for those on horseback. Tauscher said the path will be a standard width, wide enough to accommodate two or three people walking abreast, on both sides. That width is achievable for most of the corridor and in certain areas can be augmented with a gravel shoulder, which won’t be damaged by shod hooves.
“Passing over some little streams and rivers will be pretty nice,” Tauscher said, commenting on some of the beautiful spots along the proposed trail. “Gunn Road has a unique intersection with a water crossing that will be pretty nice.”
The Greenway Committee is always looking for new volunteer members. Information can be found on the town website. A ‘friends of’ group is being formed to do outreach and fundraising. Once the fundraising arm gets underway campaigns for support will begin and a presence on social media sites will appear.
“It’s actually been an effort 20, 25 years in the making,” Tauscher said. “Now we finally have a good bit of momentum going. The culmination of all the effort, coming together after so many decades, is the most exciting piece.”
The Greenway Committee can be contacted through email at greenway@townofsouthampton.org.