I took my bike around Newburyport Saturday afternoon just to see what it was like to ride around a city that was relatively flat…btw it was luxurious… I have used the bike routes to and from Plumb Island and that’s a treat as well. Where the roads intown don’t have actual bike lanes there are many more cyclists and the cars give you enough room to ride..well MOST of the cars. BTW there are five pedicabs on the road in Newburyport, now THAT’s a lot of exercise.
I grabbed some pictures of their Clipper City Rail Trail under construction. Seeing as how it is part of the Border to Boston Trail it will be larger and more elaborate than the proposed Methuen Trail…but it’s good to have goals.
The Clipper City Rail Trail will connect to Salisbury’s Eastern Marsh Trail via a rail road bridge across the Merrimack River, run south through to the MBTA station and continue down into Newbury and Rowley. They are also integrating it into their plans for additional downtown bike routes.
Tags: Area Trails, Border to Boston, Clipper City Rail Trail, Newburyport
My apologies for not mentioning the hard work of the the Topsfield Rail Trail Committee for putting on such a lovely event. The Topsfield Historical Society donated the meeting space in their Gould Barn.
Despite the foul weather, Rachel & Harry Banks and I nipped over to Topsfield to catch the Trail Talk evening program organized by the Topsfield Trail Committee. There was of course a large contingent of Topsfield residents getting used to the idea of having their own trail as part of the entire Border to Boston corridor. For them Craig Della Penna’s excellent rail to trails 101 slideshow must have been very encouraging. When we can predict filling an entire hall, I am certain we can get Craig up here with his pretty pictures of successful trails and happy towns.
There was also a smattering of folks from area trails, Salisbury, Haverhill, Danvers, Wakefield etc. The highlight of MY evening was the short discussion given by Atty Steven Winslow regarding liability and rail trails. My thumbnail description would be that the liability for abutting homeowners for the trail is the same as it would be for the sidewalk or street in front of their home. Your homeowner’s policy should protect you. And the towns liability coverage would extend to the trail as it would with any newly acquired property. 
Statistically events ON the trail are exceedingly rare, to me this is sounding like a non issue, sort of the last bastion of the anti-trail argument.
I wish I had thought to take pictures of the circa 1710 post and beam construction of the Gould Barn. It was a swell little meetinghouse.
Tags: Area Trails, Border to Boston, Topsfield Rail Trail
They have done up a new Border to Boston Brochure and THIS was on the back. I had not seen a map that incorporated the planned NH Seacoast Trail, the Maine Eastern Trail AND the Border to Boston. But I can tell you right now, I will be there on Opening Day to ride to Maine on my 50 year old bike.
It seems there is plenty of effort being put into rebirthing these North South Rail corridors as shared use trails. We here in the the Merrimack Valley will have to put some extra effort into working on an East/West Corridor along the river. In 10-15 years we could have a nice network of straight passthroughs bringing folks from all over the region THROUGH our city, to get to Maine, Manchester and Boston.
Tags: Border to Boston, maps
