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Date: 10/25/2022
NORTHAMPTON – For years, an effort has been underway to connect rail trails and bike paths from Northampton to Boston into one continuous 104-mile trail called the “Mass. Central Rail Trail” (MCRT).
To continue the process, organizers are currently seeking opinions from users of the trail to collect data on user characteristics, spending habits and trail-use cases with a survey open to the public.
The survey is part of a five-task process put together by Kittelson & Associates and Cambridge Econometrics that will help develop a methodology for gathering, analyzing and extrapolating business and trail user survey data for use in projecting the impacts of bridging the gaps in the MCRT.
According to Craig Della Pena, the executive director of the Norwottuck Network in Florence, the 104-mile trail, which intersects with 17 other trails, is the longest and most complicated trail underway in New England. The Norwottuck Network, located on 62 Chestnut St., is a nonprofit corporation that supports the build-out and operation of the MCRT. They fund educational history and preservation projects along the MCRT corridor – and eventually along trails that network with the MCRT.
Currently, 90 miles along the MCRT are under public-protected status. In other words, a state agency, municipality or land trust is now preserving it from being segmented or damaged.
Of that protected mileage, over 51 miles are now open and safe for families to enjoy, and in about two years that figure will jump to 75 miles. According to Della Pena, an expensive route will have to be taken for that number to reach 104 miles.
“Nobody thought that this thing could be a 100-mile trail when it was first purchased by the state back in 1980,” said Della Pena. “To get to the completion of 104 miles, it’s going to be very expensive and very complicated.”
The benefits of a shared-use rail trail like this are substantial, according to Della Pena, especially from a health and economical standpoint. The state of New York, for example, recently completed the Empire State Trail, building an additional 400 miles in four years. The idea of this trail formed after a 2014 revenue study showed that the unfinished Erie Canal trail yielded over $250 million per year to the state and communities along the way.
“We’re not inventing the wheel here,” said Della Pena. “There are four or five trail ports that we called and consulted with to help showcase what we wanted to see here.”
In 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) completed a feasibility study to examine ways to reassemble the missing pieces of the original Mass. Central corridor. The study emphasized that several long bridges across the trail must be replaced, a 1,000-foot tunnel needs to be renovated, a corridor needs to be reacquired, while other changes and improvements must be completed.
According to Della Pena, the survey results will eventually help Kittelson prepare a summary report that identifies benefits from the existing trail and the potential benefits from a completed Mass. Central trail. The Norwottuck Network will then use this report to speak with stakeholders, including state and federal agencies, regional tourism councils and local municipalities.
“We have to show MassDOT that this will be worthwhile,” said Della Pena. “The important part is getting the survey results and developing the report. This project has never been done before in southern New England.”
“You build a long trail, and it’s going to have meaningful economic impact in various realms for communities along the way,” Della Pena added. “Not just urban areas, but also suburban and rural areas too.”
People have until the end of October to complete the survey, which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MCRTSurvey.