HAMPTON — In a little more than a year, residents will be able to hop on their bikes in Hampton to take safe, scenic trips to Portsmouth on the Seacoast Greenway without the dangers of sharing the roads with cars and trucks.
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is putting the final touches on its design for Hampton’s roughly 2-mile stretch of what is known locally as the "rail trail.” Running along the west side of Route 1, the 1.9 miles from the Hampton/North Hampton town line to Drakeside Road will extend the mostly completed 8 miles of trail from Portsmouth along abandoned railroad beds.
According to DOT project engineer Corey Spetelunas, the project is set to go out for bid in January 2025, a process that usually takes about three months. Once bids are opened, Spetelunas said the funding and contract will go before the governor and Executive Council for approval.
“Construction should start in May,” he said. “It’s scheduled to be completed in one season. It may be done by October (2025), but definitely before winter.”
Made of graded and hard-packed stone dust, the trail will be 12 feet wide, with 2-foot shoulders on each side, with appropriate drainage installed along the route, according to Spetelunas.
Hampton Beach Labor Day weekend 2024: Ex-NFL players hit the beach, circus and more
Rail trail is 17 years in the making
More than 17 years in the making, New Hampshire’s coastal rail trail is part of a national effort to re-awaken thousands of miles of abandoned railroad beds, turning them into alternative – and exhaust-free – transportation corridors that can be used in various ways.
An active initiative in Eastern New England, the plan is to connect Portland, Maine, along a Seacoast route to Boston. But the dream is much larger, with the East Coast Greenway conceptualized as a walking and biking route extending 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida . It would connect 15 states and 450 communities along one of the nation’s most populated corridors.
Tourism, recreation and safe exercise are three of the most frequently thought of activities on the trails that are popular with cyclists, runners and pedestrians – and even their pets – on a daily basis. But for some cyclists, rail trails have become routes to commute to work, stores, beaches, friends' homes, etc., using two wheels instead of four and without the need for gas, diesel or electricity.
Even the funding underwriting construction of the miles of trails throughout the country and in the Granite State signifies a national commitment to lessening vehicle emissions that are a major contributor to poor air quality, especially in densely populated urban areas, like many along the Eastern Seaboard.
According to Spetelunas, the rail trail is part of New Hampshire’s 10-year Transportation Plan. The money to build it comes from federal dollars in the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality, or CMAQ, program. To date, Spetelunas estimated the nearly completed construction of the Seacoast Greenway from Portsmouth to North Hampton came in at about $5 million. Hampton’s soon-to-be-built connection should run around $1.5 million to $2 million, he estimated.
More: Hampton Falls to review revised plan for 55+ community on Route 1
Hampton excited about the future rail trail
Briefed on the state’s progress at a recent meeting, Hampton’s Select Board members said they were excited about the prospect of this project becoming a reality. Hampton, with its beaches and other activities, is a major destination for the region’s residents, and having a safe, functioning rail trail will only add to its attractiveness.
As with all rail trail communities, the Select Board played a significant role in the project’s process. Although the state funds, builds and maintains ownership of rail trails, cities and towns along their routes must sign an agreement with the state for the trails’ annual maintenance. That includes yearly grading of the trails, weed and brush control, unblocking culverts to ensure successful drainage, cleaning up graffiti, trash and debris, and trail signage.
This isn’t a unique agreement between communities and NHDOT. It’s similar to maintenance agreements municipalities make when DOT adds sidewalks to state-owned secondary highway systems – such as the Route 1 corridor – for plowing, etc.
More: Vernon Family Farm asks public for help in its fight against neighbors' lawsuit threat
What’s next for the Seacoast Greenway after Hampton?
When finished, New Hampshire’s Seacoast Greenway is meant to connect to Maine in the north through a 17-mile network of rail trails and bikeways through the Granite State’s coastal communities of Portsmouth, Rye, Greenland, North Hampton, Hampton, Hampton Falls, and Seabrook to Massachusetts and beyond in the south. The hope is that in the not-too-distant future, there will be a 65-mile rail trail running from Portland to Boston.
According to Spetelunas, after Hampton’s section is completed, the next phase will connect from Drakeside Road through Hampton Falls to the Seabrook line. Spetelunas said that a 2.3-mile stretch may be tricky to design and build. It not only crosses over to the east side of Route 1 but continues through marsh areas that can flood during weather events.
Once at the Seabrook line, however, the Greenway encounters some challenges. For starters, the abandoned railroad bed used for the trail runs through land belonging to NextEra Energy, which owns and operates the nuclear power plant on the coastal plain. An area of extremely sensitive security, according to Spetelunas, a resolution to that issue has yet to be worked out.
Further, Seabrook’s Board of Selectmen has not signed the agreement with the state to assume responsibility for the rail trial’s maintenance once it’s completed.
Yet, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a functioning – though informal – rail trail in Seabrook, maintained by a group of enthusiasts committed to its mission and already enjoyed by many.
According to town treasurer and former selectman Oliver Carter, Jr., Friends of the Seabrook Rail Trail is a nonprofit organization formed by a group of dedicated volunteers. After the state removed the rails from the former stretch of Boston and Maine railroad line that runs from Walton Road north through town, Carter said this group has raised funds and organized helping hands to keep the trail usable.
“A couple of times a year, they’ll hold a clean-up,” Carter said. “They’ll go out, walk the trail, pick up the trash, and clip the low-hanging branches.”
Carter knows the trail is used frequently because a portion of it runs behind his home.
In addition, there is already a Seabrook-Salisbury Trail connection located behind Seabrook’s former Fire Station on the south side of Route 286. It links Seabrook to the northern end of the Old Eastern Marsh Trail in Salisbury, allowing easy bicycle access through Salisbury’s many rail trails, which can bring people through to Amesbury’s and Newburyport’s trails, and beyond.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Missing link: Hampton's section of rail trail to Portsmouth coming soon
Most Popular
Comments / 0