Plan for Ashuelot Rail Trail: A Pilot Project

Draft Plan Comment Period (ended 12/8/19)

Draft Plan (with appendices)

Overview

Rail trails have long been recognized as a way to improve local and regional opportunities related to transportation, recreation, economic development, and public health. A variety of individuals and groups take on maintenance of rail trails, and they are enjoyed routinely by residents and visitors alike. Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) sees value in developing a plan which addresses the future of our region's rail trails.

Plan for Ashuelot Rail Trail is a planning effort aimed to address challenges and opportunities along the approximately 21.5-mile stretch of trail between Hinsdale and Keene, New Hampshire. The project will involve collecting data on existing trail use, conditions and amenities and conducting meetings among municipalities and other stakeholders to both share information and consider maintenance, connectivity, safety, and coordinated improvement to the trail. We hope that the project will result in a common vision for Ashuelot Rail Trail to better inform volunteer groups, local government and regional and statewide transportation planning.

Meetings and Outreach

Draft Plan (Adobe PDF version)

Draft Plan (Add Comments Online)

Final Project Advisory Committee Meeting (December 17, 2019)

Agenda

Minutes

Final Plan

Existing Conditions Assessment Technical Memos

Literature Review - Inventory of existing trail-related plans, policies, laws, or other documents.
Base Mapping/Inventory - Synopsis of trail-related mapping activities. Accompanied by a trail map booklet.
Bicycle/Pedestrian Collisions - Inventory of recent vehicle crashes involving pedestrians or bicyclists at or near roadway trail crossings.
Bicycle/Pedestrian Counts - Overview of bicycle and pedestrian counting activities conducted to date and summary of collected data.
Trail Condition Assessment - Summary of methods and findings from a trails condition assessment conducted by Keene State College students, in consultation with SWRPC, municipal staff and others.
Programs Analysis - An inventory of recent or ongoing programming that makes use of the Ashuelot Rail Trail, a review of example on-trail programming taking place in other areas of the country and an overview of academic and professional literature regarding the health benefits of active recreation and on-trail programs.
New! Economic Benefit Analysis - High-level analysis and literature review covering types of economic benefits, relevant studies and methodologies to consider as part of a more detailed study or data collection initiative.
Policy Integration - Analysis of municipal complete streets policies and complete streets planning and design guidelines.

Public Outreach Technical Memos

Online Resident Survey - Analysis of results from the online resident survey.
New! Municipal Survey - Summary of responses from municipal staff and officials focusing on information relative to plans for improvements, needs, promotion, land use issues, previous planning and more.
New! Key Stakeholder Group Survey - Summary of responses from an online survey sent to organized user groups covering a range of trail-related issues.
New! Intercept Survey - Summary of data collected from in-person surveys with trail users conducted in each of the four communities.
Open House - Description of open house activities and implementation, along with compilation of collected input.

Maps

Plan for Ashuelot Rail Trail Locator Map (SWRPC)

Rail Trails in New Hampshire (New Hampshire Department of Transportation)

Other Resources

Plan for Ashuelot Rail Trail: A Pilot Project Handout (February 2018)

New Hampshire State Trails Plan (New Hamphsire Department of Transportation)

University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension "Downtowns & Trails" webpage

Videos

"Ashuelot Rail Trail Bike Ride Series #2 - Keene State College to Pine Street in Swanzey" (Greg Pregent)

"Ashuelot Rail Trail Bike Ride Series #9 - West Swanzey to Winchester NH Depot" (Greg Pregent)

"Ashuelot Rail Trail Bike Ride Series #5 - Winchester NH to the Hinsdale NH Depot" (Greg Pregent)

"Rail Trails of America" (Timothy Lawrence)

Contact Information

For additional information, contact:

Henry Underwood, GIS Specialist/Planner

Southwest Region Planning Commission

37 Ashuelot Street

Keene, NH 03431

603-357-0557

hunderwood@swrpc.org

Dec 16	The Southwest Region Planner's Roundtable will meet at 12:00 p.m. at the SWRPC offices at 37 Ashuelot Street, Keene. For more information please contact Lisa Murphy of SWRPC staff.
Dec 17	The Monadnock Regional Coordinating Council For Community Transportation will meet at 8:45 a.m. in the North Conference Room of the Cheshire Medical Center, 580 Court Street, Keene. For more information please contact Todd Horner of SWRPC staff.
Dec 17	The Ashuelot Rail Trail Advisory Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. at Whitcomb Hall, 17 Main Street, Swanzey. For more information please contact Henry Underwood of SWRPC staff.
Dec 20	The Age-Focused Planning Work Group will meet at 12:00 p.m. at the SWRPC offices at 37 Ashuelot Street, Keene. For more information please contact Lisa Murphy of SWRPC staff.
Jan 6	The SWRPC Transportation Advisory Committee will meet from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the SWRPC offices at 37 Ashuelot Street, Keene. For more information please contact J. B. Mack of SWRPC staff.