Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail will be at the Warner Fall Foliage Festival Oct 6-7 2018. Our booth will be on Schoodacs Coffee & Tea’s front lawn, right in the middle of the action. Come learn about the trail and the many ways you can help this trail grow. Soon you will be able to walk on new sections in Bradford and Contoocook. We are working to bring over two miles of trail to Concord in 2019 along with additional projects.
The NH Bureau of Trails included two sections of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail in its list of 2018 Recreational Trails Program grants. This is the first opportunity we have to show widespread community support for the trail in Bradford and to say a public thank you for their funding. We sincerely hope you will take a few minutes of your evening to show your support of the trail. Just showing up makes a statement. The meeting is at the Bradford Community Center, 134 East Main St, Bradford at 5:30 PM.
The Bradford Project
Topo map showing High St to W Main St project in Bradford.
The Lake Sunapee Snowmobile Club is the lead applicant on this grant. Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail and the Rural Heritage Connection of Bradford are the other two non-profits partnering on this project. The three organizations are sharing costs equally. The project is 3/4 of a mile long and makes a substantial safety improvement year round by providing a safe and pleasant way to walk or bike around lower Lake Todd. It also improves drainage and the trail surface along the Tilly Wheeler trail. And its visible. We have found there is nothing to match the enthusiasm that is generated by providing residents with a section of trail to walk on.
The Contoocook/Warner Project
We also have the opportunity to thank the Bureau of Trails for providing funding for a 2 mile project stretching from Spring St in Contoocook to Route 103 in the Davisville section of Warner by Exit 7 of I-89. Most of the 1.5 miles in Contoocook is in okay shape. But there are two wet sections and the Warner section of the trail is very rough. The project will improve drainage and the surface in Contoocook and create a smooth stable trail in Warner suitable for year round use. Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail was the sole applicant on this grant. But we did have support from the Contoocook Snowmads and the Kearsarge Trail Snails as this entire section is already part of the snowmobile network during the winter months.
Your Presence Matters
We spend years getting projects ready to go. The Bradford project has been in the works since 2013. 14 meetings at least in front of town boards. Countless hours preparing project details and raising money. Thank you for your help thus far. But this is our ask. Give us 30 minutes of time this evening at the Bradford Community Center on 134 East Main St in Bradford. Bring all the members of your home who would use the trail. (Infants to great-grandparents and everyone in between would qualify here.) Its free. Its quick. And this makes a lasting impact.
We successfully added stone dust trail surface to the bridge at Bagley. This short extension to the trail provided us with an opportunity to try a smoother surface material. Early reports are very favorable.
Time to put a new surface on this bridge.
Volunteers who want to help build a new wood deck with railings on the truss bridge over the Warner River at Bagley Field in Warner please get in touch with us. BYO tools. I have one generator, could use at least one more. We will be drilling to accommodate 3/4″ diameter Timber Bolts. Some through 15″ of material – so long bits are handy. An additional chop saw and stand could be handy. Lots of wood to toted from place to place. Help for an hour or help all day. Heavy item drop off by Brayside Apartments. Parking at Bagley Field.
During January and February we received support from over 11 new donors from NH, CT, and MA. Thank you all for your support of the rail trail.
How much does it cost to build a foot of the trail? As little as $2/foot if we are just applying stone dust to a clean section of trail. Costs are higher when we factor in kiosks, gates, signs, benches re-decking bridges or building new trail from scratch in areas where the old railroad grade no longer exists. We work hard to do as much as we can with volunteer labor and in-kind donations of equipment and materials to keep costs low. Your help in any amount does make a difference.
Help us take two steps forward with a recurring monthly donation. At $10.00 per month you help the trail all year long. Your donation would carry the trail forward as much as five feet each month. Please help with your financial support and encourage your friends to do the same.
Ask your employer if they match donations. Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
Snowshoeing on the rail trail at Bagley Feb 20, 2017
A couple of years ago the friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail asked NH Department of Transportation if they would consider declaring a parcel of land in Warner surplus. We thought the parcel would be of keen interest to the Warner Conservation Commission because it borders a long stretch of the Warner River in an area where the Conservation Commission has conserved other parcels. The state has declared the parcel surplus. The town has negotiated the price down. The Conservation Commission wants to proceed with the purchase and this meeting is a necessary step in the process.
Please show your support by speaking in favor of the town of Warner purchasing this parcel of land from the state of NH for $7,100 on April 5th at 7:00 PM at Warner Town Hall, 5 East Main St. Funds to come from the Conservation Fund.
This parcel abuts the town owned Bagley Field property where the town soccer fields are – and where an improved section of rail trail is located. This spring we will be improving the rail trail surface on more of the Bagley Field property and re-decking an iron truss bridge extending the trail to where it meets the parcel being offered to the town.
We believe the value of the parcel being offered to the town is an exceptional value for the community purely from the conservation standpoint of protecting water quality, protecting habitat, and bringing control of the property’s future use into town hands.
In addition, there may come a time when the rail trail may want to cross part of this parcel along the old railroad grade. The old grade is partially on this parcel and partially on land that is within the I-89 corridor. So by itself this parcel is not all that’s needed to extend the trail towards town, but it is a necessary step.
It is our goal for the trail to be an outdoor classroom that connects residents and visitors to the natural environment along the route. We believe the rail trail will provide an ideal platform for inspiring people of all ages to appreciate nature while preserving the natural habitat.