Mattapoisett Rail Trail      

The proposed 4.5 mile Mattapoisett Multi-Use Trail is part of a tri-town project on the Old Colony Railroad Right of Way, starting with Fairhaven's completed 3.5 mile Phoenix Bike Trail, and to be followed by a bike path network in Marion (see project summary)—all part of a Southeastern Massachusetts master plan for a regionally-connected, mixed-use trail system which would stretch to the Cape Cod Canal, and beyond. These web pages show the project's current status, including ways you can help, and chronicle the progress made as the rough dirt trail evolves into a paved path.

Why do we need this multi-use trail? Among other benefits, it will:

• Reconnect our communities, just as our railroads originally connected communities.

• Open a safe alternate route of public transportation, allowing people to commute between towns, meet friends, run errands—away from, and without the use of, motor vehicles. Trails offer a safe, enjoyable way for everyone, from children to seniors, to reach the next town—away from trucks and cars. Consider our current difficult situation:

1.  No feasible alternatives to the high-speed, 4-lane Route 6 exist between Mattapoisett and Fairhaven. To avoid the hazards and noise of Route 6, bicyclists can only ride north to Tinkhamtown and the Acushnet town line (see map), before heading back down to Fairhaven.

2. Likewise, no feasible alternatives to Route 6 exist toward Marion; bicyclists can only ride much further north to Rochester center, and then to Marion, but may encounter fast traffic and hazardous road defects on the way.

3. No safe bicycle routes exist to the Old Rochester Regional Junior and Senior High Schools—accessible from Marion or Mattapoisett, only by Route 6.

• Create a public greenway for fitness, recreation and relaxation. Besides bicycling, people can enjoy recreational activities such as walking, jogging, inline skating, picnicking along the harbor, and bird watching. As with Fairhaven, our path's primary users and beneficiaries will be our townspeople. Who can you expect to see on the path?

• Neighbors enjoying evening or early morning nature/exercise walks and runs, taking in the quiet beauty of the Mattapoisett River, saltmarshes, woods, beaches and harbor.

• Seniors in walking groups; bird watchers seeking-out waterfowl and woodland species.

• Parents and grandparents pushing infants, small children trying out training wheels, teens on rollerblades or skateboards.

• Families walking, skating, and cycling to programs at the YMCA facility at the head of Mattapoisett harbor.

• Our children bicycling together to school and back.

• Wheelchair users finally gaining access to the quiet, natural beauty of our woods and waterfront, undisturbed by motor vehicles.

• Others simply unwinding, enjoying the views, or escaping from the noise, routine and stress of daily life.

Invest in our town's future and preserve the open space where trains used to rumble by, as a beautiful, linear park, to benefit our children, our grandchildren, and generations to come.

• If we lose access to the railroad right-of-way, we won't get it back. The public has used the this corridor for leisure activities for years. However, runners and walkers have recently been blocked by fences and gates, and asked to no longer use the property.

• There's nothing quite like a railroad right-of-way: we'll gain a paved path with a graded unpaved shoulder, a direct route to town centers, and either a gentle or no incline (definitely no steep hills!)—free from fast-moving cars and trucks.

• Open space is a limited resource — and our town has not purchased open public space for many years. It's time we try to preserve more of what makes our town so special. It makes sense to convert our old, abandoned railroad line, for the benefit of the town's present and future citizens.

Abutters to the trail, and others living nearby, will benefit as well:

• Increased property value: numerous studies show that bike paths tend to increase abutting and neighborhood property values (or at worst, paths do not decrease property values).

• Bid good riddance to dirt bikes: bike paths also tend to police themselves, as cell phone users can quickly report problems.

• Police access: our police and emergency vehicles cannot access the right of way in it's current condition.

• A safe, convenient, direct path to the town centers.

Will this trail truly benefit the people of Mattapoisett?

• That's easy! Just look next door, to Fairhaven's shining example of the Phoenix Trail, in use since 1998, and long recognized by citizens (and realtors) as a jewel of the town. For a reminder of the good Mattapoisett's proposed multi-use trail can do, read Marion and Peter Londons' letter to the Standard-Times.
  

• Benefits already started.  Even before Phase 1A Costruction began, the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bicycle & Recreational Path,  with assistance from the Town of Mattapoisett cleaned rubbish and refuse from the right-of-way in 2003.
  

• Now in 2008, Phase1A is complete and residents are taking full advantage, by walking and riding on the path...all the way to Fairhaven from Mattapoisett Neck Road.  What used to be a muddy, uneven, and sometimes difficult to traverse passage is easy and beautiful.

• The path provides a walk though the woods that diminishes exposure to ticks and other pests that carry serious diseases.

• Given America's obesity epidemic, it seems obvious that multi-use trails are an important way to inspire us to get off of the couch or get out of the car.

If you agree that this project benefits our town and enhances its future, then read the project status, to see how you can help. Explore the links section, showing local, regional, and national resources. The Mattapoisett Multi-Use Trail will become a reality only with community support — your support!