After years of delay, the Rails to Trails Committee has finally received a general permit from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to construct the three-quarter mile-long North Brook Trail.
“This is really good news,” said committee secretary Matt Riiska.
The committee has been working on the project since it was formed in 2015 and thought it had all the paperwork in place for a late-summer 2024 start. Then DEEP decided that the application should come from the state, which owns the land, rather than the town and internally revised it.
During the delay, beaver activity along the trail changed the topography so much the state required a redesign, lengthening the boardwalk over water dammed up by beavers from 150 feet to 275 feet. Portions of the bridge and trail also had to be raised.
The town received a $399,725 Recreational Trails Program grant from DEEP In May 2023. The grant then represented about 80 percent of the total cost of construction, with the balance to be covered by other grants, donations and in-kind services.
Riiska said that inflation and the redesign of the trail make this sum insufficient and an additional $226,000 grant is being sought. “We are supposed to hear in late March whether we got it,” he said. “The indications look good.”
If the town fails to get the grant in this round, the committee will set priorities for starting work with the money it has.
The trail will extend along the former Central New England Railroad right-of-way between a parking lot off Route 272 North to the Stoney Lonesome Trail parking lot on Ashpohtag Road. The ADA-compliant trail is designed for both pedestrian and bicycle traffic. It will also be firm enough for strollers and wheelchairs.