450x450px, The Washington Secondary Bike path includes several bridges. The Washington Secondary Rail Trail (also known as the Washington Secondary Bike Path) is a rail trail located in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. The trail measures and has sections that are paved and unpaved. It runs along an abandoned rail corridor of the former

Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...

. The trail serves the communities of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

West Warwick West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census. West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, and Cranston. It combines, from west to east, the Trestle Trail, Trestle Trail East, Coventry Greenway, West Warwick Greenway, Warwick Greenway, and Cranston Bike Path. Long-term plans envision the Washington Secondary Rail Trail connecting with the

Blackstone River Bikeway The Blackstone River Greenway in October 2006, approximately one mile south of the Martin Street Bridge, Lincoln, Rhode Island The Blackstone River Greenway (formerly Bikeway) is a partially completed paved rail trail defining the course of ...

, the

East Bay Bike Path The East Bay Bike Path is a paved rail trail in Rhode Island. The path begins in Providence and India Point Park, crosses the Seekonk River via the George Redman Linear Park (opened September 2015) and Washington Bridge and continues southeas ...

, and the

Moosup Valley State Park Trail The Moosup Valley State Park Trail is a rail trail located on the railbed of a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line in the New England towns of Plainfield and Sterling in Windham County, Connecticut. The line ran from 1898 unti ...

in Connecticut. The Washington Secondary Rail Trail is a designated section of the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

Coventry section

* distance The Washington Secondary Bike Path starts near the Summit General Store on Log Bridge Road at the south/western paved end of the Coventry segment. West of this point, the trail is known as the Trestle Trail to the Connecticut state line. The pavement continues for northeast until the town line with West Warwick. Over the duration of the 4.0 paved miles, the Coventry greenway passes alongside the Flat River Reservoir, Knotty Oak Cemetery, the Merrill S. Whipple Conservation Area, and the upper branch of the Pawtuxet river over 4 bridges (3 water, 1 road, 1 of them a

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

design). The path follows the direction of RI 117. In 2014, the original Coventry Greenway section was rehabilitated, and the Trestle Trail East section was added, extending the western end by almost five miles. Connecting the last section to the Connecticut border (and connection to the

) is planned, which would bring the total length of the path to .

Trestle Trail crossings (unpaved)

Paved crossings

West Warwick section

* distance The West Warwick Greenway segment is fully paved, from the Coventry section to the Warwick leg. The right of way passes by the commercial district of Arctic. Along the trail are two mills, one commercial/industry and one residential (Royal Mills, Ace Dying Mill complex). Bradford Soap Works straddles the greenway not far after.

Crossings

Warwick section

* distance The Warwick Greenway provides an almost direct connection to Bald Hill road and the Malls; ( RI and

). Another truss bridge is on the path nearby the West Warwick sewer treatment facility (the township line is nearby the greenway).

Crossings

Cranston section

* Cranston * distance The Cranston Bike Path is the longest paved section, the greenway passes through Oaklawn, Knightsville and the Gladstone sections of Cranston. The northern terminus at the moment ends at the northern end of Garfield avenue, at the Cranston Police department. The right of way, accessible almost up to the tracks continues north for .33 miles until it merges with

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's Northeast Corridor.

Crossings

References

External links

* {{cite web, title=Washington Secondary Bike Path, url=http://www.traillink.com/trail/washington-secondary-bike-path.aspx, website=TrailLink, publisher=Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, accessdate=15 June 2016 Coventry, Rhode Island Cranston, Rhode Island Rail trails in Rhode Island East Coast Greenway Warwick, Rhode Island West Warwick, Rhode Island

Coventry section

Trestle Trail crossings (unpaved)

Paved crossings

West Warwick section

Crossings

Warwick section

Crossings

Cranston section

Crossings

See also

References

External links