How lucky we are to have the Upper Valley Trails Alliance High School Trail Corps back on the MRG this summer. They pried spikes, cleared brush, and tried to stay cool. (They were working on the area between the Timken Bridge and the Miracle Mile movie theaters.) Thanks to you all for your hard work!
Posted in Mascoma River Greenway Updates, Uncategorized
The Downtown Revision proposed at last Thursday’s meeting in the Lebanon Opera House included restoration of the tunnel running under the downtown mall.
The Valley news reported: “the old railroad tunnel will also be restored and used for the future Mascoma River Greenway, allowing pedestrians and bicycles a traffic-free path downtown. Restoring the tunnel is estimated to cost about $2 million, according to consultants. That’s about $200,000 more than plans to fill it in.” ( If approved, funds for restoration will come from the City of Lebanon, not the MRG Campaign which is now at 98.7% of goal.)
http://www.vnews.com/City-Officials-Unveil-Plan-for-Downtown-Improvements-2568305
Small work groups have been out on the MRG with Co-Chair Frank Gould, prying spikes so ties can be separated from the rails. Leadership Upper Valley volunteers showed up on Sunday, working near the Dudley Bridge at the west end of the Miracle Mile. Says Frank,” It is very heavy work, clearing away fifty years of dirt and roots which have settled next to the rail, and using hefty prybars to pull the spikes.” Volunteer Lyn Swett Miller said” It was incredibly hard work – – What Frank is doing there is amazing..” Thanks to Lyn for these photos. Thank you volunteers!
Posted in Mascoma River Greenway Updates
Racing to get the job done before snow flies, a small, hardy crew completed the rail on the upriver side of the downtown bridge; all but the approach to the bridge is done and the rent-a-fence can be dismantled and returned.
If someone has a power hand auger that could dig four post holes, 4 feet deep, we would love for them to step forward so the approach to the bridge can be completed! (Contact paul.coats@lebcity.com)
New Railing
Scenic Overlook
Posted in Mascoma River Greenway Updates
Thanks to a generous additional gift from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, the Mascoma River Greenway has reached 95% of the Capital Campaign goal!
The end is within sight . . . can you help put us over the top?!
We are delighted to have received a donation from Lebanon Girl Scout Junior Troop #12969, earned through their sales of Girl Scout Cookies. We hope it won’t be long before we see them on the MRG, biking, walking, x-country skiing on the trail they helped build! Thanks to their leader, Sarah Craig, for sending this photo.
Team Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk, a global pharmaceutical company with a facility in West Lebanon, has a special interest in cycling: they sponsor Team Novo Nordisk, the first professional team in any sport to be made up exclusively of athletes with type 1 diabetes. They are proving to be generous neighbors: thanks to Novo Nordisk we are now $75,000 closer to our goal!
Lead paint on bridge over I-89 delays installation of safety rails
The Mascoma River Greenway has been a complicated project involving the City of Lebanon, the State of N.H., the Claremont Concord Railroad, and the federal government. Step by step we move forward . . . with a few snags:
Successes:
* City of Lebanon approval of the project
* Official Abandonment and Discontinuation of the railroad tracks from mile marker 140 (eastern side of the bridge over the Mascoma River, near Timken) to Glen Road. Thanks to the offices of Schuster, Buttrey & Wing for their efforts in preparing the 7 pounds of legal documents required!
* The incredible effort of so many volunteers clearing the tracks of brush, ties, and tracks. The “in kind” contributions have been huge!
* The MRG Capital Campaign has reached 90% of its goal thanks to the support of major donors, local businesses, house parties, individuals . . . and Girl Scout Juniors cookie sales! Little more than $200,000 will bring us to our goal.
* City engineers have completed plans for the safety rails on Slayton Hill stone arch bridge and the downtown bridge/platform over the Mascoma River.
* Work has begun on the West Lebanon side, improving the trail from the Powerhouse Mall to Riverside Park.
Snags:
* The Tunnel: Deterioration and subsequent closure of the tunnel under the Lebanon Mall and Hanover Street has obstructed the joining of the Northern Rail Trail to the MRG. Fortunately the City is conducting a visioning study for the entire downtown Lebanon, including the tunnel, and will be seeking citizen input over the next few months.
* Complications with our fencing company and lead paint on the bridge over I-89 has delayed the plan to put pedestrian/bicycle railing on the bridge.
* The trail west of the I-89 bridge is marshy and will require EPA Wetlands approval. Application for approval has been completed and sent; we anticipate approval.
* The plan for the West Lebanon end of the trail relies on development of Iron Horse Park with a new road connecting Rt 4 to Seminary Hill. That development has been on hold for the past 2 years, and we do not yet know when it will move forward.
As we resolve the snags, weeds and brush are returning to the trail. This week, volunteers mowed and whacked weeds on the path from the Powerhouse Mall to Riverside Community Park in West Lebanon, as well as the path by the downtown Lebanon bridge over the Mascoma River. Thanks to all volunteers!
Frank Gould is looking for a few more volunteer weed-whackers. Might you help?
Newly mowed MRG near Goss Logan
(Thanks to Larry Kelly for the photo.)
Posted in Mascoma River Greenway Updates
The Upper Valley High School Trails Corps spent another day on the MRG yesterday, hefting 200-pound railroad ties and clearing the greenway beyond the I-89 bridge to within a quarter mile of the Timken bridge . . . 20,300 pounds of ties went to the landfill! The Valley News was there to report on their good work: http://www.vnews.com/home/17774624-95/for-hs-trail-corps-elbow-grease-goes-a-long-way
The Mascoma River Greenway 