WINCHENDON—The town’s bike path is set to receive a significant upgrade, courtesy of a $466,840 grant through MassTrails.

The grant, according to Town Manager Justin Sultzbach, will be used to clean a half-mile section of an abandoned rail line, then formalize that land into an extension of the bike path. Sultzbach said the half-mile of land is behind the Walgreen’s on Webster Street. Back when the rail line was in use, he said trains transported coal, which left a fair amount of coal dust on the surrounding area.

“They used to bring in thousands and thousands of rail cars rolling through, stopping and offloading, and so left a lot of coal dust there that’s there in that area, which in and of itself, if left undisturbed, is relatively harmless,” he said. “But the concern is if you have kids riding bikes, walking their dogs or whatever, it’s inevitably going to get kicked out and who really wants coal openly sitting in their backyard?”

Sultzbach said a big motivator in getting this grant was to clean up the parcel and remove the coal dust to improve quality of life. The extension will carry the bike path across Central Street and through the soon-to-be-cleaned parcel. Sultzbach added that the goal was to extend the grant money as much as possible to get the most benefit for the community. He credited Lionel Cloutier, a member of the Conservation Commission who lives near the path and has been a strong advocate for the project, along with Brian Croteau, director of the Department of Public Works, and Board of Selectmen Vice-Chair Richard Ward.

“This project, like most great projects, really, it’s a group effort,” said Sultzbach. “A lot of different people came together at the right time and pushed in concert to get it done.”

MassTrails provides matching grants to communities and nonprofits to plan, design, create and maintain diverse networks of trails. Applications for grants are accepted annually for a variety of projects. According to information from MassTrails, the grant includes a match from the town of $116,710.

MassTrails stated that the path will have a 10-foot-wide surface with three-foot-wide stabilized shoulders on each side. The project includes a sidewalk extension along Jackson Avenue to provide safe connectivity to two densely populated areas, a parking area on a lot adjacent to the rail corridor, and crosswalks and signage placed at crossing locations to enhance visibility and awareness of trail users.

The preliminary design is complete, and final design, environmental permitting, and contract documents will be put together once the grant is awarded. The intent is to bid out the work and begin construction this year, with work being completed in 2024.

Long-term, Sultzbach hopes the town can extend this bike path to the New Hampshire border and all the way to Brattleboro, Ver., as well as extending further south. He said a lot of work has been done over the past two years, including connecting to the North Central Pathway in Gardner. Looking at the entire project—which Sultzbach said would likely cost millions—can seem insurmountable, and so the focus has been on taking on smaller portions, such as the extension through the abandoned rail bed.

When asked about next steps, Sultzbach said he’s begun reaching out to the owners of other abandoned rail properties north of where the work will be done to secure the land. He said such a process can take more than a year to complete and requires purchasing the property.

“They don’t really have a need for it anymore,” he said. “There’s nowhere they can go north or south with it and they’re not going to run trains on it anymore.”

Once this land becomes the town’s, the grant application process can begin. Sultzbach added that if the town were to adopt the Community Preservation Act, those funds could also be used to improve the bike path.

“But for us, the biggest thing is getting through our downtown with this and then in the future, taking that and connecting up north,” he said.

Max Bowen can be reached at mbowen@recorder.com or 413-930-4074.

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