Category Archives: Good News!

Path from APD/MRG Parking

Posted on July 12, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Those who have parked in the parking lot donated to the MRG by Alice Peck Day Hospital will be glad to know the path to the MRG has been greatly improved and will soon be paved and wheelchair-accessible. Thank you Upper Valley Trails Alliance!

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Posted in Good News!, Mascoma River Greenway Updates

Pollinator Corridor Plans

Posted on July 8, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Have you noticed these signs and new plantings along the MRG?

Upper Valley residents are becoming aware of the risks associated with pollinator collapse and are responding by planting organic native perennial flowers, shrubs, and trees to provide food and habitat for pollinators and other creatures, as well as enhanced environment for humans.

There is a plan for a pollinator corridor along the MRG. With funding from the Robert F. Church Charitable Trust, we have begun to create what will be a string of pollinator gardens, fruit trees, and berry bushes for bees, butterflies, birds, and even hungry humans. Check out our new Pollinator Corridor Page at this site and start looking for pollinators along the Mascoma River Greenway. Some of our new gardens will not hit their stride for a year or two but look for the Milkweeds (Common and Butterfly), Purple Coneflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Liatris, Anise Hyssop, New England Asters, Yarrow, Bee Balm, Borage, Coreopsis, Goldenrod, and other flowering pollinator plants as they emerge. If you get a good photo of bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds enjoying the new plantings, please share to the Lebanon Photo Gallery!

I spy with my little eye three busy pollinators on the MRG milkweed!

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Posted in Good News!, Greenways for Health, Mascoma River Greenway Updates, Plant Life of the MRG, Pollinator Corridor

Lebanon City Council Approves Purchase of MRG Parking Lot Land Near Slayton Hill Underpass

Posted on March 7, 2019 by | 2 comments

 

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The yellow dots define the land approved for purchase. It is on Mascoma Street, just west of APD and adjacent to the Slayton Hill underpass. (You can see a white car emerging from the underpass in this view.)

Wednesday night, the Lebanon City Council approved the purchase of land on Mascoma Street, adjacent to the MRG and the Slayton Hill underpass, to serve as additional access and parking space. We have been fortunate to have the current Mascoma Street parking lot donated by APD;  given the popularity of the MRG, a need for additional parking is anticipated and this new parking area will have easy ADA accessibility.
Thayer School Students (Sebastian Strong, Isalys Quinones, Eleanor Dowd, Sarah Atac, and David Ruiz) made an excellent presentation of their study of options for completing the western end of the trail to WRJ. They posed 3 possibilities with the favored route using the rail track across the Stone Arch Bridge (Glen Road) and into the Westboro Rail Yard with access to WRJ across Bridge Street and the Connecticut River. This will take negotiation with the Department of Transportation and and rail company, which has not been successful to date.  The students are willing to try to move this forward with the help of the City.

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Posted in Good News!, Next Steps, Progress!, Uncategorized

New Benches Being Installed on the MRG

Posted on January 14, 2019 by | Leave a comment

 

The first of six benches purchased for the Mascoma River Greenway has been installed near the path leading down from the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital campus. The bench is dedicated to the memory of Leo C. McKenna whose wife, Christine, is an enthusiastic supporter and user of the MRG. Watch for other benches to appear along the trail as soon as weather permits their installation by the Lebanon Recreation and Parks Department.

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Posted in Good News!, Mascoma River Greenway Updates, Progress!

MRG Trail Maintenance: Saturday 11/3

Posted on October 22, 2018 by | 2 comments

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Calling all volunteers!

Are you a runner, walker, skateboarder, foliage admirer, cyclist, or generally interested in helping keep Lebanon’s greenway corridor beautiful and safe and potentially extending it to White River Junction?

A team of Dartmouth engineering students is helping the City explore options for extending the Mascoma River Greenway (MRG) corridor in Lebanon to White River Junction. Let’s help bridge the ped and bike gap between New Hampshire and Vermont!

Join us on Saturday, November 3rd from 10am to 2pm for a few hours (or whatever you can attend for) to do the clean-up and give your feedback about the greenway extension. Dartmouth engineering students, City of Lebanon staff, and friends of the MRG and Northern Rail Trail will be in attendance. Doughnuts and coffee will be provided!

Location: Meet up at the Mascoma Street “MRG Parking Lot” across from Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Alice Peck Day Drive, Lebanon, NH.

Tips: Wear gear and shoes appropriate to the weather and tasks. Bring rakes and vegetation cutters, if you have any. Other equipment will be provided.

This event is sponsored by Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, Northern Rail Trail, Mascoma River Greenway, and the City of Lebanon. For more information, please call the Lebanon Planning and Development office at 603-448-1457 x1473.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Five students from the Dartmouth Thayer School of Engineering are working on a six-month project with Friends of the Northern Rail Trail to model the final extension of the Mascoma River Greenway. Their final product will include a feasibility and safety report as well as a detailed map of the final MRG trail alignment from Glen Road to White River Junction. The group will present their project at the November 13th Lebanon Ped and Bike Advisory Committee meeting and welcome all interested community members

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Posted in Events, Good News!, Next Steps

The Tunnel Will Be Fixed!

Posted on September 20, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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Downtown Tunnel and Pocket Park ( Hanover Street Bridge Overhead)

By this time next year, the currently closed-off downtown tunnel should be reconstructed with connection made between the MRG and the Northern Rail Trail.  Read the Valley News report on the Lebanon City Council decision.

 

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Posted in Good News!, Mascoma River Greenway Updates, Progress!

Thanks to the UV Rugby Club!

Posted on August 16, 2018 by | Leave a comment

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Wonderful to have the youthful energy of the UV Rugby Club applied to the MRG pocket park today. They planted, composted and mulched, sowed grass seed, and applied more wood chips under the picnic tables. They put the finishing touches on the park. A big thank you goes out to this good-humored and energetic group.  Thanks also to Cindy Heath who designed and spearheaded this pocket park landscaping project!  It is accomplished and it looks great!

 

 

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Update:  The U.V. Rugby Club has voted unanimously to adopt the pocket park.  They will help provide maintenance, including frequent watering of the new shrubs and trees. Thank you U.V. Rugby Club!

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Posted in Good News!, Mascoma River Greenway Updates, Thank you!