MethuenRailTrail

worth reading • From the Rails to Trails Conservancy website, this case study for the completion of the trail system in the Manchester, New Hampshire region. The Salem-Lawrence section of track is mentioned on page 5. (download 19pps)

To say that the current regional pattern towards trail development in Southern
NH is alive and exciting would be an understatement. Here are just a few of
the current projects already underway:

• Salem NH: Studies and engineering plans are being developed to convert the abandoned Manchester / Lawrence Railroad bed to a Bike/Ped Trail that will connect
with the completed trail in Windham and could eventually travel south to
Lawrence, Massachusetts.

• Windham, NH: An active group has completed and is maintaining its portion of the
North/South 4.1 Mile Lawrence/Manchester Rail bed as a Bike Pedestrian
Manchester Regional Trail System Case Study Page 6 Rail Trail. In the planning stages is the Windham greenways project that could eventually connect Windham to Nashua and Rochester via the East/West Worcester, Nashua, Rochester Railroad line.

• Derry, NH: Utilizing the Manchester/Lawrence abandoned rail bed, Derry has completed approximately 1 mile of paved rail trail with phase two in the planning stages to create approximately 2 more miles and completing the connection to Windham. Derry is also working on the planning and designs for the completion of the Trail heading north to Londonderry.

• Londonderry, NH: The town is actively studying and planning the creation of its portion of the Manchester/Lawrence Rail bed to connect to Manchester and Derry. Londonderry has several local trails that are maintained and created by the Londonderry Trailways organization.

A thoroughfare from here to Manchester would be very exciting and linking up to points south would bring a stream of travelers right through the center of the city. Imagine folks coming INTO downtown Methuen instead of just trying to pass right through?

Tags: Derry Rail Trail, New Hampshire

Rubel BikeMaps are carried in the better bike shops and I even would suspect Borders and Barnes and Noble would not be sold out of them from time to time. I picked up mine at Al French’s Moor and Mountain in Andover for about $12. It is most like a regular auto map, in size but the markings are all geared towards ‘slow’ speed recreation, campgrounds, ice cream shops etc. It’s practically a must have for picking local roads for safer travel. Of course they have an entire line, Boston, Cape Cod, Western Mass, etc…
The New Hampshire maps created by the NHDOT and the Bike-Walk Alliance of NH, are free and harder to acquire but just as useful. The Merrimack Valley map and the others in the set should be available for the asking at the rest areas such as the one on Rt 93 in Salem.

From the New Hampshire Department of Transportation website:

A new set of seven regional NH bike maps are now available from NH DOT. After nearly two years of meetings, presentations, state-wide hearings, inputs for various cycling groups, revisions, budget cuts, and other time-consuming projects, the new maps were available in time for the Bike/Walk to Work Day events on May 16. To ensure the maps reach bicyclists and not just tourists looking for a free souvenir that is soon trashed, they must be requested. Distribution will be made via the rest areas on the NH Interstate Highways, by contacting the DOT, and from other key NH locations around the state. BWA-NH is a member of the bike map steering committee and can testify that a lot of time and effort has gone into these maps. To be sure, they are not perfect and the state infrastructure is a moving target that cannot be reflected on a map which may be outdated before it is printed. To compensate for such, the NH DOT Bike-Ped web site http://www.nh.gov/dot/nhbikeped will carry updated versions of the maps available for free downloading plus notation of corrections. Any problems or suggestions concerning the maps should be sent to the attention of Jerry Moore in the NH DOT Bike-Ped Office at JMoore2@dot.state.nh.us.

Tags: Cycling, maps, New Hampshire