Bike Walk Alliance of New Hampshire

Safety first: be an advocate in Derry NH

/ Ellen Kolb

**UPDATE: the NH Department of Transportation has RESCHEDULED the meeting to Thursday, September 22. The August 4 meeting was postponed due to hot weather. One might call that a safety concern. Let’s hope the same concern animates future moves in the Exit 4-A project.**

The Granite State Walker is about celebrating New Hampshire trails – not the mountain trails that are well-documented elsewhere, but the southern New Hampshire trails that deserve to be just as cherished. Public-policy advocacy is not the usual beat for this blog. Something is coming up that prompts me to make an exception, and it involves the Derry Rail Trail.

Derry’s trail is part of what will someday be the Granite State Rail Trail, extending from Salem to Manchester and beyond. Already, the Derry trail connects with the Windham Rail Trail to the south, and it will eventually connect with the Londonderry Rail Trail to the north. One important segment yet to be built is the trail’s crossing of the proposed exit 4-A on I-93.

In brief, the state Department of Transportation intends to route the rail trail along a messy path, aptly nicknamed (not by the DOT) the “spaghetti route.” This is far different from the original plan, which was a simple tunnel routing the rail trail under the highway. The tunnel plan is safer and simpler.

What to do

On Thursday, August 4, the Department of Transportation is holding a public meeting at 6 p.m. at West Running Brook School in Derry. The purpose of the meeting is to present the DOT’s preferred plan to the public. It’s unclear how much opportunity there will be for public input. That’s not going to stop advocates for pedestrian and bicyclist safety from making an impression simply by showing up.

Attend if you can, wearing something that’s a bright “safety yellow” color. The New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition’s Facebook page has more information about the meeting. (Full disclosure: I’m on the NHRTC board.)

Improve I-93? By all means. Build exit 4-A, which has been in the works for years? I’m OK with that. Let that project advance the safety interests of all transportation users, not just drivers. The tunnel plan would do just that.

Proposed exit 4-A project, showing Derry Rail Trail proposed path: brown line indicates the tunnel plan, while the blue line indicates the more convoluted plan favored by NHDOT. Image from Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire (bwanh.org)

For more information

The Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire has a helpful information page that includes illustrations and narrative descriptions of each of the proposed plans.

BWANH’s conclusion is right on target: “New Hampshire will be stuck with the outcome of this project for many years to come. Let’s get it right, and do it right the first time.”

Visit the trail now

You don’t have to wait for the completion of the Derry Rail Trail to enjoy the segment that’s open now. Start from Windham Junction and head north on the paved trail. You’ll see and hear I-93, but soon the trailside wetlands with their birds and flora will capture your attention. Watch along the way for the artistic tributes to poet Robert Frost, who once taught nearby. As you approach NH Route 102 in central Derry, plan a stop at one of the businesses that support the trail, such as The Grind coffee shop.

All along the way, remember: safety first.

pond at Hood Park, Derry, New Hampshire
Hood Park in Derry NH, seen from Derry Rail Trail. Ellen Kolb photo.

Beginning the NH Rail Trail Challenge: low-key, close to home

/ Ellen Kolb

I can tell already that the Rail Trail challenge is going to figure into many future posts. I hope readers who are inspired by the challenge will share their own posts and photos so we can learn from each other.

I enjoyed a walk on the Goffstown rail trail a few days ago with Paula Bedard of the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire, of which the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition is an affiliate. If the Challenge has a prime mover and guiding spirit, she’s it. It was great to talk with her about our favorite trails and the shape they’re in.

Goffstown rail rail
Along Goffstown rail trail

She made an important point to me that makes me much more optimistic about earning that Challenge patch: participants must explore each trail, not travel every inch of every trail. Whew! OK, so I’m not just going to do a quarter-mile of the Northern Rail Trail and then check it off the Challenge list. But it’s good to know that an overgrown trail – northern stretch of Fort Hill, maybe? – won’t be a stopper.

The next day, at Paula’s urging, I picked up the second edition of Charles F. Martin’s book, Rail Trails of New Hampshire. The first edition has been my companion on many trips. With more trails developed and with conditions changing on existing ones, a new edition is timely.

Brookline: a pair of short trails

Why go out of my way to check off anything from a trail list? In 2020, the only reason I need is that I am grateful for diversions from the challenges of COVID-19. I crave out-of-the-way places where no masks are required. Fresh air clears my head. A straight flat trail lends itself to prayer and reflection; I can’t say I’m too busy to pray when I have three quiet miles in front of me.

Brookline NH rail trail
The Brookline rail trail is unpaved but wide and suitable for bikes. Ellen Kolb photo.

All of which brought me to the Brookline rail trail. The little town already has a place in this blog thanks to the Andres Institute of Art with its trails and outdoor sculptures. Nearby is the less-imposing rail trail. It’s short, straight, shady, and ideal for a brief respite from routine.

I parked off of Bohannon Bridge Road, next to a ball field, just past the Nissitissit River. Finding the trailhead for the developed part of the old rail line was easy. A runner was just returning to her car. A gentleman was walking his dog ahead of me. Farther along I saw a pair of friends laughing and walking briskly together. The trail might have been new to me, but clearly the locals were familiar with it.

Brookline NH rail trail
The Nissitissit river and the streams flowing into it are quiet in summer – but watch out during spring freshet. Ellen Kolb photo.

The trail is about a mile long. The slow-moving river alongside is concealed this midsummer by heavy vegetation. The trail surface is unpaved but wide and smooth. There’s one road crossing. The trail peters out at NH Route 13, behind a gas station and a pizza restaurant. The parking there makes a convenient starting point for anyone who wants to go out-and-back along the trail from that direction.

The Brookline rail trail isn’t a destination trail in the sense of being worth a special trip from out-of-area. As a local recreational resource, it’s a gem. I live a couple of towns away, and I work from home. One day, when it was time to close the laptop and take a break, I drove down to Brookline to see about this little trail. It rewarded me with a perfect little shady walk. 

After a hilly walk at the Andres Institute, the flat Brookline trail might be a good way to get the kinks out of those sore legs. 

A map will tell you that the Nissitissit rail trail is a continuation of the Brookline trail, but a map is unlikely to indicate the break dividing what was once a single rail line into two sections. A bridge fell down long ago, and now the sections don’t connect. Getting to the Nissitissit trail requires driving from Brookline along Pepperell Road into Hollis. There’s parking within a stone’s throw of the Massachusetts state line.

Heron at Great Meadow, Nissitissit Trail in NH. Ellen Kolb photo.

The Nissitissit rail trail is part of the Beaver Brook Association’s holdings. (BBA provides many miles of trails, well worth exploring.) It begins with a walk along Great Meadow, a marsh providing good habitat for herons. Past the marsh, the trail enters quiet woods. Springtime visits in the past have rewarded me with a variety of wildflowers, including lady slippers – even white ones, far less common than the usual pinks.  

White lady slipper, W
White lady slipper, a springtime treat along the Nissitissit rail trail. Ellen Kolb photo.

The Nissitissit trail can be a short out-and-back walk, or one could keep going into the town of Pepperell, Massachusetts. This trail segment is chiefly notable for its peace and quiet. Its greatest rewards come from stopping along the way: watch the marsh for its wildlife and the forest floor for its variety of flora. I wouldn’t bike here. Walking sets the right pace.