LEBANON — The city is getting closer to kicking off a $2.9 million project to extend the rail trail from its current end point on Glen Road all the way to Route 12A.
The project aims to help walkers, runners and cyclists reach 12A safely by adding 1.3 miles of paved trail to the Mascoma River Greenway.
The multi-use 2.5-mile paved path currently ends about 800 feet from the top of Glen Road.
“Once we finish this project, it will, I think, be a very popular way for people to get between the two sides of the town,” said Recreation, Arts and Parks director Paul Coats.
A grant from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation will cover the majority of the project cost, which has grown from its original $2.5 million estimate due to inflation.
An estimated $502,000 cost to the city has been partially covered by $233,000 raised privately in an early capital campaign for the project, said Coats.
“The City Council would still need to approve the remaining $269,250 to come from Recreation Impact Fees and whatever other source we identify,” said Coats.
The city is in active contract negotiations with the Auburn, N.H., office of Stantec, the firm that designed the existing Mascoma River Greenway, with a goal to finalize the design by the end of 2027, said Coats.
Construction could start following the design work and permitting, likely in 2028.
For those who currently use the Glen Road end of the trail, an extension would be welcome.
Delaney Reynolds, a Lebanon resident who cycles regularly on the trail, said she would take advantage of the route. While biking on Glen Road, which is winding and narrow, doesn’t really bother her, she understands why others are hesitant.
“Not everyone feels that way. And there are a lot of kids and young people who use this too, so I think that’d be especially nice for them,” said Reynolds Monday near the trail end.
For some, Glen Road is simply too dangerous for travel.
Lebanon resident Aislynn Corey said the road is too curvy and the traffic goes by too fast for her liking, so she drives to the small parking area at the Glen Road trailhead and walks her pit bull Ladybug every day.
“I won’t go any further, she said.
Cyclist Dick Podolec, another resident, tried going on Glen Road once, he said, but has avoided it since then.
“I go the other way sometimes to Mascoma Lake, because that has no cars all the way basically,” Podolec said on the trail.
Public support for the project has made it a top priority for the city, Coats said. That support has been necessary to carry it through to this point.
The city has been actively working on it for the past three years, he said earlier this month. A lengthy part of the process involves garnering permission from the state and federal governments.
So far, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation has agreed to sign the city’s abandonment application, requesting support for the project as owners of the railway corridor before it can go to the federal government .
“We have confirmation from them that this is something that they’re doing with us through emails and meetings,” said Coats.
Coats now feels they’re nearing the end of this initial stage in the project. Once the signatures come in, the application goes to the federal Surface Transportation Board, an agency that regulates the railroad industry, for final approval.
The State of New Hampshire owns the rail corridor. The railroad that has permission to operate it, New England Central Railroad Inc., signs off on the project by informing the state it has no intention of using the tracks, said Coats.
Once final approval is completed at the federal level, the city can enter into a formal rail trail agreement with the state. That agreement would allow the city to build and maintain the trail, and open it for public use, said Coats.
Volunteers will clear out the trees growing through railroad tracks and clean out the whole area in preparation for construction.
The city is also negotiating with the Powerhouse Mall owners for permission to continue the Mascoma River Greenway along their property and behind the mall to bring rail trail users all the way up to the Glen Road and 12A intersection, where a sidewalk network starts.
Coats believes that the extension would help bring different types of traffic to the mall.
“We’ve had lots of conversations,” said Coats.
“If things go like we think they will right now,” Coats predicts there will be a functional trail by the fall of 2028, though it may not be completely paved by then, he added.
