This years goal - clear all trees from the rail trail
Construction begins on the Squannacook River Rail Trail!
It has been an amazing month for our years-long effort.
The past month has been a amazing one for everyone involved with this rail trail.  First, we had two extraordinary volunteer days on Oct 19th and Nov 2nd, where over 80 volunteers showed up and did great work installing over a mile of wattles.  Then, on Nov. 20th, construction began with the contractor who started clearing the rail trail of trees.  They will eventually clear the entire planned rail trail of trees before the construction window closes March 15th.

For those of you who walk the trail, please keep a safe distance from any work area.
What is the plan for construction of this rail trail?
Squannacook Greenways has decided to take a staged approach to construction of this rail trail. This decision was driven by two factors: 1) our limited Nov - Mar window for construction equipment, 2) large increases in the cost of removing old ties and large decreases in the value of scrap steel. Our plan is to clear the entire corridor of trees this year, which may well take up this year's entire window. In addition, we will also be installing a fence behind Sterilite to ensure users are not tempted to access the rail trail from their shipping area. We will then build 1/3 of the trail in each of the following three winters. In between, we will be applying for MassTrails and other grants to cover the additional costs not anticipated in our original capital campaign. Between the winter build periods, there will be volunteer days like the two very successful one we held recently to make progress with hand tools - thanks again to everyone!
Granite pillar and granite bench donation still available

Squannacook Greenways will honor donors of $1000 or more with their names on a granite pillar to be placed along the Squannacook River Rail Trail, and donors of $5000 or more their names on a granite bench.  These are still available until construction finishes.


Finally - a huge thanks to our many hard-working volunteers!

We were overwhelmed at the great turnout for our two volunteer days Oct. 19th and Nov. 2nd. Check out our events page for lots of pictures!  The turnout really made us all feel that all the years working on this project has been well worth it.




Check out our events page for lots more pictures!

Squannacook Greenways | [email protected] | www.sqgw.org
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