The Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail, formerly the Norwottuck Rail Trail, is an combination bicycle/pedestrian paved

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

running from

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

, through Hadley and

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

, to

Belchertown, Massachusetts Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 census ...

. It opened in 1992, and is now part of the longer

Mass Central Rail Trail The Mass Central Rail Trail is a partially-completed rail trail from Northampton, Massachusetts to Boston along the former right of way of the Massachusetts Central Railroad. When complete, it will run through Central Massachusetts and Greater Bo ...

History

The rail bed under which the trail operated opened in 1887 under the control of the

Central Massachusetts Railroad The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Middlesex Central Branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad in North Cambridge and ...

. Shortly after its completion, it was leased by the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

and referred to as the Central Massachusetts Branch. Three round trip passenger trains were run in the 1920s, as well as numerous freight trains. Competition from cars and trucks caused a decline on the line, as passenger service was discontinued in 1932 and freight service managed to hang on for another forty-two years, primarily to deliver goods to a farmer's supply warehouse in Amherst. The rail bed was acquired by the state in 1985 and developed into the trail in 1993, as its current name. The name of "Norwottuck" was the result of a suggestion by the Hadley Historical Commission, who believed that the name corresponded to the local Native American tribe, the Norwottucks. It was also the term for the entire area.

Use

This trail is used by bicyclers, rollerbladers, and hikers. Both recreational and commuter traffic occurs here. Sights to see include the

Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge (also known as the Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge) is a former crossing of Boston and Maine Railroad over the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley, by the ...

over the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. The

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

pond near the eastern end of the trail is host to a number of different kinds of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s including

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

and various

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s, as well as

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

s, and various other critters.

Extension

The trail has been extended to the east approximately and currently ends at Warren Wright Road south of North Road and north of Wilson Road. A westward extension from Damon Road to Woodmont Road in Northampton opened in 2007. The trail ends close to the

Northampton Bikeway Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, which runs from the other side of King Street to Florence and Look Park. Construction of a rail with trail project southward to downtown Northampton and Easthampton (to connect with the

Manhan Rail Trail The Manhan Rail Trail is a rails-to-trails paved recreational trail and non-motorized commuter route located in the lower Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in the town of Easthampton. The trail, completed in 2003, is part of a larger ra ...

) is in the planning stages, as is a tunnel underneath the active rail line to join with the Northampton Bikeway. An underpass connecting the trail with the

north of downtown Northampton was expect to be bid on in 2015 and was expected to be completed in 2016. Trail users had been frustrated with the missing connection for years. Bidding on the project was closed in March 2016. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation selected Northern Construction Service for the $4.4 million tunnel with an expected completion in October 2017. The tunnel was opened in early November 2017. There are various other possible connections being considered, such as a connection to the

Canalside Rail Trail The Canalside Rail Trail is a trail, partially on old railroad beds, from East Deerfield to Turners Falls in Montague, Massachusetts, USA. A short portion of the trail runs along town streets, but the majority is on a paved trail from which mot ...

. There is a

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

in progress to create a bicycle path from Boston westward, which would incorporate the Norwottuck Rail Trail as part of its length.

Reconstruction

The original trail had degraded over time. One aspect of the problem is that the original pavement was an attempt at being "

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

", and incorporated crushed used

glass bottles A glass bottle is a bottle made from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 200 millilitres and 1.5 litres. Common uses for glass bottles include food condiments, soda, liq ...

as part of its

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

. This material had been slowly emerging over time, causing flat tires and other issues. As a response to the condition of the trail, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division embarked on the Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail Rehabilitation Project. Specifics of the reconstruction plan included widening the trail from its original to to better accommodate busy traffic, especially on weekends, since widening would lessen the impact of traffic as on any other kind of road. After being under discussion for several years, the $4 million reconstruction project got underway in August 2013; it was completed in June 2015.

References

External links

Norwottuck Rail Trail
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Norwottuck Rail Trail Map
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Friends of Northampton Trails and GreenwaysNorthampton Bike Underpass Design Plans
{{Protected areas of Massachusetts Protected areas of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Rail trails in Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts Northampton, Massachusetts History of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Protected areas established in 1992 1992 establishments in Massachusetts

History

Use

Extension

Reconstruction

See also

References

External links