==
Bike-Walk Alliance of NH ==
Londonderry Trailways
Committed to building safe bike/ped routes in our town
Introduction:
Londonderry Trailways is an all-volunteer group of local citizens formed in 1999 with non-profit staus pursuant to section 501(c) (3) of the IRA code. We have approximately 130 members. Our goal is to increase and improve the availability of trails for low impact, passive recreation in and around Londonderry. We are made up of citizen’s who are cyclists, walkers, hikers, cross country skiers, bird watchers, snowshoers, etc. Amongst our membership we have members of the Conservation Commission, Town Council, Planning Board, Zoning Board and the School Board. We have a diverse list of interests. What brings us together is the desire for local recreational trails.
A new brochure about the rail trail project along the M&L corridor is available as of February 2012. It may be viewed here as two separate JPG files: outside cover; inside content.
Londonderry Trailways works hand in hand with the managing body of each parcel of open land to improve public access for recreation. For example, we meet with the various town government boards like Londonderry’s Town Council, Planning Board and Conservation Commission. Now that we have completed several projects and they see the end results, these government entities have grown to be very supportive of our efforts to provide services that town government typically has not organized or funded.
Londonderry Trailways organizes volunteer trail days at various parcels of town owned, school owned and now privately owned open space. At typical trail days we have primarily focused on upgrading existing trails by building significant bridges, painting & installing trail signs, marking/blazing trails, gathering satellite data to produce trail maps, grading the trail surface and trimming branches. We have also done all of the above for building new trails as well.
Project updates:
February
2012:
The Londonderry
Town Council enthusiastically and unanimously approved the signing of the Rail
Trail Agreement with the State of NH. As one town councilor said "there
is all of a sudden a lot of activity that we are hearing about with other towns
and their rail trails, something that did not exist a few years ago."
October 2011: Londonderry Trailways has contacted NH-DOT about the rail remaining on their section of the M&L corridor and whether it could be used for an Iron Horse rail trail construction project. An inventory of the rail was taken by NH-DOT on October 28; next comes the value assessment. Meanwhile, Londonderry has outlined their plans for building the trail in segments as documented in their brochure.
October 2009: Londonderry Trailways was one of four groups who participated in the "M&L-North Tour" which reached into downtown Manchester. Details about the tour as arranged by BWA-NH plus a NH Union Leader article by Derrick Perkins and photos may be viewed here.
July 2009: Londonderry Trailways and BWA-NH will be meeting with NH DOT in July to discuss an apparent problem near Route 93 Exit 5. Two new multi-million dollar bridges are under construction to allow the "Recreational Trail" (the M&L corridor) to pass under the interstate highway, yet a few hundred yards down the trail the complete Right of Way has been paved over to make a public road with more paving of a relocated road in the plans. Off-road trail users simply cannot be forced onto public roads with no provisions for their safety. And since the entire M&L corridor in this area is owned by NH DOT, BWA-NH and representatives from Londonderry Trailways are seeking clarification of the plans and to learn how trail users will be accommodated as they head south toward rail trails in Derry, Windham, and Salem, all part of the same M&L corridor. Stay tuned for details.
Londonderry Trailways also announced their new President is Chuck Piper while Sandra Legueux is still highly involved.
December 27, 2008: Londonderry Trailways President Sandra Lagueux confirmed that their organization will start focusing attention on their section of the Salem to Manchester rail trail corridor now that the in-town pathway has been completed. The momentum generated initially by the Windham Rail Trail Alliance and now being picked-up by Salem, Derry, and Manchester should help spur activity in Londonderry.
Sandra also mentioned that Scott Hamilton is to be the 2008 Londonderry Trailways President. A more formal announcement and date of when Scott assumes the position of President is pending.
December 2007, initial entry: Londonderry Trailways, in partnership with the Town of Londonderry Planning Dept, was awarded a grant of $550,000 to build a paved path/sidewalk from the Londonderry Middle School all the way around and beyond the Moose Hill Kindergarten. This project was completed in October 2008.
With the efforts now underway in Manchester, Derry, Windham, and Salem to complete the Salem to Manchester rail trail, Londonderry Trailways is to re-visit doing work on the Londonderry section of this important north-south corridor in the spring of 2008.
Web site:
http://www.londonderrytrails.org/
Contacts:
President: Bob
Rimol, 603-432-7985
Vice President: Sandra Lagueux, 603-432-7985
Treasurer: Kim Hamilton, 603-434-0867
Historian: Sharon Enright, 603-434-9314
Social Secretary: Sue Charest, 603-437-6209
Trail Day Organizer: Peter DeSantis, 603-483-2410
Newsletter Editor: Scott Hamilton, 603-434-0867
Membership: Walter Slozak, 603-432-9841
Website: Mark Officer, 603-432-0180