Trail seen as a way to protect cyclists on roads

CORNWALL — A group of nine “through-riders” and others associated with this summer’s end-to-end ride of the Western New England Greenway stopped at the Cornwall Library on Sunday, July 26 (their first day out). 

They shared a brief update on the bicycle route that is hoped will someday link New York City with Montreal.

Sunday they were on the first leg of the 270-mile, seven-day journey on two wheels that began in Norwalk, Conn., and will end in Burlington, Vt., just this side of the Canadian border. The Greenway extends another 30 miles to Quebec’s Route Verte. 

At 66 miles, Sunday’s ride, which began in a thunderstorm, is by far the longest distance they expect to ride in a day, said ride organizer Terry Burke, who lives in Cornwall. But they will still do at least 40 miles daily.

Along the way they will make similar stops to educate the public about the effort and to meet with local trail organizers. They expect many riders to join them for a day, a few miles or whatever they have the time and fortitude to do.

It began with lots of local groups seeking safe ways to bike in their communities, according to Dan Bolognani, executive director of the federal Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, which is facilitating the Greenway project. He said cycling opportunities raise the quality of life in a community by promoting tourism and a healthy outdoor activity.

Ideally, bikeways occupy former railbeds and back roads that parallel major routes; often they are on portions of state highways that have been rerouted. But there are many places where the only option is to run on main roads.

“The American culture is oriented toward motor vehicles,” Bolognani said. “There are too many accidents between motor vehicles and bikes. The more we do of this, and the more people recognize the share-the-road attitude, the better off we’ll all be.”

Pat Hare, a Cornwall resident who has been working on this project for years, gave an overview of the local trail segment, which extends from Kent to the Lenox, Mass., area. It is known as the HouBike Trail because it follow the Housatonic River.

What they noticed while doing the mapping, Hare said, was that it passes by a series of landmarks that include Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield, Dean’s Ravine and the Great Falls in Falls Village, Bull’s Bridge, Sloane Stanley Museum and Kent Falls in Kent, and more.

“We realized it is a linear historic and natural features park, where every 4 to 5 miles you can stop and see something really worthwhile. It really works as a family trip.”

One of the sticking points is a recently much-debated segment between West Cornwall and Cornwall Bridge. Route 7 is particularly difficult there. It hugs a winding part of the river below a ridgeline. Proposed is a trail on the opposite side, between the river and an active freight rail line.

Efforts continue there, and are focused on avoiding two properties in Cornwall Bridge. The owners have objected strongly to the trail being in what may be state property and the railroad right-of-way, but is essentially in their yards.

Among the potential alternatives is a built-up trail section closer to the river made of gabions, which are typically wire cages filled with rocks to create building blocks, and a bridge over the Housatonic, with one end at Housatonic Meadows State Park on the western shore.

It is all a complicated process of working with state and local property owners on right-of-ways and other details. Initial conversations appear promising, Hare said, but it will take a lot of time and money. The time frame is typically a decade.

Another goal is for the Greenway to be designated a U.S. Bicycle Route, and become part of that developing network. The effort is currently in the hands of Dan McGuiness, one of the cycling group (and former executive director of the Council of Governments here). He is seeking to secure a letter of endorsement from the top official in every municipality along the route, which is an absolute requirement for the designation.

Interestingly, the ambassadorial group is middle aged and older. It is a testament to their own healthy lifestyle choices that people well into retirement age can bike through three states in a week. It is inspiring in its own right.

They are also the group with time to devote. The riders include Robin and Ami Verner, who just sold their Battenkill Sports bicycle shop in Manchester, Vt., which they opened in 1972.

They are now working on turning an old railbed into a bikeway there.

For more information, including maps, go to www.WNEGreenway.org. Available soon will be mapping that can be downloaded to mobile devices.