Welcome to the Mason Square Community Rail-Trail

In the heart of Springfield’s McKnight Neighborhood there is a long-forgotten railroad corridor that stretches around the neighborhood like a lucky horseshoe. Nestled between dozens of homes and Oak Grove Cemetery, industrial areas, and long tracts of hidden woods, lies a great opportunity for the McKnight Neighborood , the Mason Square Community, and the City of Springfield.

The abandoned rail corridor, now called the Mason Square Community Rail-Trail, is approximately two miles in length. The tracks have been removed, but the wooden rail ties still remain—now almost entirely hidden beneath the flora and fauna.

The former corridor is a testament to the great possibilities and diversity of the neighborhood and city. On portions of the trail there are no visible structures—only trees rise up quietly from rail banks that once rumbled with passing freight cars. What a blessing to be surrounded by nature, and to feel alone in a city of 150,000. Walk a little farther, and giant blue industrial fuel storage tanks rise up, a reminder of our city’s industrial past and present. An old train bridge still stands on its granite foundation, its steel girders waiting for new wooden planks to hold up hikers and bikers. A hawk circles over the dry grass and disappears into the woods. In a sense, the corridor is a linear park that gets few visitors, but has a growing fan base.

In brief, what we’re trying to do is to turn the abandoned rail line into a hiking and biking trail. A task no doubt easier said than done. We can do it, but we cannot do it alone. Go for a hike on this blog to learn more about the trail. If you would like to learn how you can get involved, please contact us—and don’t forget to take a virtual tour of the trail while you’re here.



The Arch of Recreation as seen by Urban Design Students

Students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst — Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, have provided the below images. Dubbed the Arch of Recreation by the urban design students, their representations of the trail reflect a creative and thoughtful approach to the corridor's full potential.

To see more of their work, scroll down and click on the slideshow.

This is a sketch of the gas storage tank between the trail and Albany Street. Like the slide show on this blog that has photos of the gas tank, this sketch also shows the potential beauty of the tanks.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A Few Links Added

I added a few links to the blog to help people research rail-trails. You can find other groups that are undertaking the same type of project we're working on here in Springfield, or learn more about issues surrounding rail-trails and agencies that are working to make Springfield a better place.

Don't miss the Enhancements link--this is the Federally funded program that is largely responsible for financing the new rail-trail in neighboring East Longmeadow. It's likely that our project will be funded by Enhancement funds, which the City of Springfield would have to apply for. There is the slight possibility that the McKnight Neighborhood Council, or another nonprofit could apply for the funds, but the city would ultimately have to undersign the deal.

Also, make sure to look at the Bruce Freeman Rail-Trail, the web site is a well-organized wealth of information.

Don't skip the Springfield Wellness Council's Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc, which was specifically founded to have a impact on the health of Springfield. This is exactly the type of advocacy group the rail-trail project needs. Representatives of the rail-trail working group will be making a presentation to the Wellness Council in the upcoming months.
Posted by at 1 comment:

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Step in the Right Direction

It's taken about two months, but we have finally received word that PanAm (yes, that's PanAm like the airline—the railways are notorious for being bought and sold), the owners of the railway corridor that runs around the McKnight neighborhood, will be sending us their valuation maps. On the maps they will indicate which parcels they still own and which parcels they have sold. This is useful to our project not only because we will know what we need to purchase, but it also shows that we have opened a dialogue with the landowners/railway. And while a purchase of the property won't happen this month, it's a step in the right direction. The next step is to present PanAm with an appraisal.


The valuation maps are decades old but still quite relevant. They show what used to line the track: bridges, sidings, stations, factory pull-offs, grades and curvature. Not only are these historical documents useful regarding land acquisition, but they save our effort allot of time and research. When the time comes to hire a surveyor, we will already have maps that indicate where everything was—saving the surveyor time, and us money. Not to mention, that if we know where an old factory pull-off was, an environmental assessor knows where to investigate for possible contamination before purchasing the property. Knowledge of contamination is important as a pre-construction detail and purchase-price negotiation point.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)