As I write this, Amtrak is preparing to return to Northampton after too long of an absence. I cant wait to take the train to Vermont or New York when it restarts once per day service from Northampton on December 29th. This change is a culmination of a long-overdue upgrade of the tracks and facilities, and should make travel faster and more reliable (and facilitate ecotourism trips utilizing the train or other transit options). Kudos to Mayor Narkewicz, Wayne Feiden and the Office of Planning and Sustainability, the Norwottuck Rail Trail Advisory Committee as well as our state and federal representatives and their staffmembers. Im also looking forward to biking along our rail with trail downtown as well as through the new bike and pedestrian underpass, which is scheduled to be installed in 2015. According to Natalie Blais from Representative McGoverns office, the tunnel is designed and paid for. It is a required state match for the federal ARRA funds that were utilized to move the Vermonter over to the west side of the Connecticut River. Until the underpass is opened, all trail users should travel on the officially designated road connection instead of illegally crossing the tracks. This is important because the trains that will be traveling \emph{much} faster than in previous years. The rail upgrade project contractors will be adding new fences to deter trespassing. The official road detour (on Market Street to North Street) is well-signposted and needs to be the default for all users to ensure safe crossings. In the past year, there have been wonderful improvements to the trails. The long-awaited rehabilitation of the Norwottuck Rail Trail is almost complete (with the trail officially open from Northampton to Station Road in Amherst). The final component is scheduled to be completed by the late spring of 2015. Kudos to the DCR for the much smoother (glass-free!) surface along with benches, plantings, signage, and other amenities. We are again working with our partners at the Friends of the Manhan Rail Trail to reprint our popular trail map and brochure. If you have suggestions of businesses who might be willing to sponsor an ad, please let us know. The Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways continues to work with the City of Northampton to help design, build, maintain, and improve the local trail network. Were most appreciative of the citys new kiosks (funded by a grant proposal that we wrote with the City and MassBike), the adopt-a-trail program (see related article), and land acquisitions (see related article). There are also exciting developments in Williamsburg (see related article), as well as efforts to build out the trail to Boston (see related article), and down to New Haven (with trail projects underway in Westfield). As always, we value your continued support. Since 2006, the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways has provided donations of more than $30,000 which have leveraged over $15 million dollars and 11 miles of rail trails. Through the FNTG annual appeal, we raised $5,000 this past year to support efforts to improve trail signage, to match state funding, and to plug gaps in the local trail network. We hope that you are able to support this future work(click fntg.net/?page_id=9 to donate online). Nicholas Horton, President
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:17:49 +0000
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