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GOFFSTOWN
Report shows Goffstown rail trail ready to roll

By Elizabeth Dubrulle
Correspondent

The long-awaited Goffstown rail trail looks to be once again on track, as the board of selectmen mull over a report of ideas for the project that was presented to them a few weeks ago.

MAPPED OUT – The green dotted line in the map above shows the path of the Goffstown rail trail from the Village to the Manchester border. Although the trail is still a few years from completion, planners are confident that the final design will create a facility the whole town can enjoy. (Map courtesy of Bill Gordon, Clarity Design Inc.)
MAPPED OUT – The green dotted line in the map above shows the path of the Goffstown rail trail from the Village to the Manchester border. Although the trail is still a few years from completion, planners are confident that the final design will create a facility the whole town can enjoy. (Map courtesy of Bill Gordon, Clarity Design Inc.)
The report came as a result of a two-day brainstorming and discussion session among trail abutters, interested Goffstown residents and town officials held in May 2004.

Sponsored by the Piscataquog River Local Advisory Committee and facilitated by representatives from the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension program, the meeting sought to address abutters’ concerns and hash out what town residents would like to see in the trail’s future.

Known in the architectural world as a design charrette, the process produced a number of points for further discussion and future action. The consensus that emerged from the meeting advocated a trail for non-motorized uses that is approximately 10 to 12 feet in width. Many issues remain unsettled, included the presence of lighting on the trail, the type of surface the trail will be made of, and the extent of landscaping around the trail.

When completed, the trail will run from Goffstown Village to the Manchester border in Pinardville, where it will link up with Manchester’s own rail trail to form an 8-mile recreational corridor along the Piscataqoug River.

Supporters cite the beneficial effect the trail will bring to the community as a whole, linking the Village, Grasmere and Pinardville by a walkable green space and providing recreational opportunities. It will also serve as a venue to explore Goffstown’s history and enjoy some of its creative endeavors, if plans to incorporate interpretative signs and display spaces are included.

The trail could offer residents a safe place to walk, run, bike, and skate for much of the year, as well as an ideal cross-country skiing venue in the winter months. Also under consideration is the construction of a park at the intersection of Mast and Henry Bridge roads.

Rail trail enthusiasts also cite the trail’s potential to spur businesses along the trail and at either ends, particularly in the Village. Nationally, organizations such as the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, at www.rail trails.org/, have touted the revitalizing economic effect such projects have for local communities, attracting both residents and tourists and raising property values.

Rail trails, the group’s Web site stated, now cover more than 12,650 miles in America and exist in all 50 states. Most of New Hampshire’s rail trails are in the White Mountains National Forest, with only a handful scattered around the rest of the state.

Manchester is working to extend its own rail trail network and Nashua boasts a trail that heads south from its border into Massachusetts. Another trail runs along Highway 89.

More information about the state’s rail trails can be found at Trail Link, www.traillink.com, a site sponsored by the Rails-to- Trails Conservancy.

PARK HERE – A park at the corner of Henry Bridge Road and Mast Road, behind the Irving gas station, is one of the design features being considered for the Goffstown rail trail. (Graphic courtesy of Randy Knowles, Knowles Design)
PARK HERE – A park at the corner of Henry Bridge Road and Mast Road, behind the Irving gas station, is one of the design features being considered for the Goffstown rail trail. (Graphic courtesy of Randy Knowles, Knowles Design)
Remaining concerns
Despite the Goffstown group’s overall level of support for the trail, several concerns remain, mainly the issue of safe pedestrian passage where the trail crosses Mast Road (which it does twice), parking for trail users, questions regarding who will ultimately be responsible for enforcing rules and regulations on the trail, the cost of maintaining the trail, and the likelihood that abutters would suffer from an increase in trespassing and vandalism.

The charrette proved a key point in moving work on the trail forward. In 2003, supporters of the trail suffered a setback when the town realized it did not have the right-of-way to all of the land.

In March 2004, that hurdle was overcome when the town assumed ownership of the entire corridor, prompting supporters to organize the charrette process. The resulting report was completed in the fall and presented to the board of selectmen this past winter. Supporters hope the selectmen will now appoint a steering committee to undertake the design process. Much work, even in the initial planning stage, remains to be done.

“The charrette fished out a lot of ideas but didn’t actually design anything,” said Lowell Von Ruden, Friends of the Greenway treasurer. “The town as a whole needs to take the next step and start looking at details.”

Although it has been a long process, Von Ruden is optimistic that the trail will take shape within the next few years.

History of the trail
The trail’s history in Goffstown dates back to 1846, when the Boston & Maine Railroad, whose track bed serves as the foundation of the trail, began operating in Goffstown. It provided rail service for the community until 1981. Just over 10 years later, town officials began looking at the rail bed as a possible bikeway and spent much of the 1990s seeking to acquire rights to the land.

In 2001, Goffstown voters passed Article 9, which appropriated funds for land purchase, a process that was not completed until 2004. That same year, the Friends of the Greenway, which had formed back in 2000, began organizing clean-up parties to help maintain at least parts of the trail.

Steve Griffin, town coordinator for planning and economic development, hoped that the first work completed on the trail will make it more accessible for those who want to use it even before some of the more elaborate construction plans come to fruition. He also stressed the need to protect the rights of property owners around the trail by establishing a viable rules enforcement system, an effort in which Von Ruden concurs.

Von Ruden maintained that another early priority must be securing additional funds to support the plans for the trail’s development. Among the most important of these funds comes from the federal government’s Transportation Enhancement Act, which typically supports any form of transportation that goes beyond highway construction.

Such funds have been available for these types of projects in the past, and town officials are already looking into future grant possibilities under the act. Other funding sources must also be found to support the trail’s construction and maintenance, both within the community and from outside of it.

“It will be a few years before big things start happening,”Von Ruden said, “but in the long run, we’ll have a nice facility for everyone in the town to use.”

The Friends of the Greenway are gearing up to lead the effort to get the trail constructed. The group will hold a reorganization meeting to elect new officers and establish objectives for the design process. The meeting will take place Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at Travers Village Eatery on Main Street.

For more information or to join the organization, visit www.thegreenway.org, which also includes a complete copy of the design charrette.

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