Rails to trails project takes next step forward
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Staff Reporter

The Ashburnham Rail Trail Committee has hired a Boston-based engineering firm to do the 25 percent design plan for the proposed project.

The firm of Fay, Spofford and Thorndike will create a design focusing on the layout, the materials and solutions for possible obstacles for the proposed 1.3-mile rail trail along.

"It's a preliminary design," said Town Planner Eric Smith. "A 25 percent design gets you in the door for state and federal grants."

The proposed project would run along the old railroad bed parallel to Route 101, between Willard and Turnpike roads.

Fay, Spofford and Thorndike have been involved in designing the Nashua River Rail Trail, the Cape Cod Rail Trail and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Concord.

Work on the project will start immediately.

Marshall Dennis, a local wetlands scientist and environmental permitting specialist, will flag the wetlands this month. And Project Manager John Hendrickson and Project Engineer Jen Shemowat, will be working with town officials and MassHighway representatives for the necessary permitting needed to proceed.

One of the challenges facing the design team will be the 150-foot bridge to span the gorge where the original bridge was washed out in the flood of 1936.

Smith said that it appears that flood was the end of the railroad's line between South Ashburnham and the center of town. The bridge ran over a branch of the Whitman River, which runs about 40 to 50 feet below the level of the railroad bed.

Smith said another possible design problem is that the railbed is lower then the rest of the ground in different areas along the route.

The committee is seeking input from the community on the next phases of the project. Some of the design issues that members will have to decide on soon are the width and surface type of the trail.

Committee members hope to get some feedback at their upcoming meeting. They have to decide whether to have the trail paved or cover it with gravel.

The design report should be done by February, said Smith. The committee wants the report so members can approach the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission for grant money.

For more information on the project, call Eric R. Smith, the town planner, at (978) 827-4125 or Sallie Thoma at (978) 827-4202.

The committee will meet on Monday, Dec. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Stevens Memorial Library.