The Southampton Greenway
The Southampton Greenway will be a 3 1/2-mile, paved trail extending from the intersection of College Highway (Route 10) and Brickyard Road (near Sheldon’s Ice Cream) north to Coleman Road. The trail will be open to pedestrians, runners, bicyclists and possibly other users. At its northern terminus it will meet Easthampton’s Manhan Rail Trail, enabling users to access a large and growing regional network of rail trails, currently extending as far as Belchertown and Williamsburg.
Friends of the Southampton Greenway
We are a not-for-profit (501c-3) group of resident volunteers committed to supporting the planning, design, construction and maintenance of the Southampton Greenway. Our mission is to support the work of the Southampton Greenway Committee, which has been appointed by the Select Board to oversee the design and construction of the trail. We do so by:
- Empowering Southampton residents to shape the project to fit community needs
- Coordinating public education and outreach efforts
- Supporting the planning, design and construction phases of the Greenway
- Sponsoring fundraising campaigns and grant applications
- (Once the Greenway is constructed) establishing trail clearing and maintenance projects
Project Status (as of June 2023)
After many years of hard work, in December 2022 the Town acquired the Right of Way for the Greenway Rail Trail from the Pioneer Valley Railroad.
Early in 2023 the Town engaged the local civil engineering firm of Tighe & Bond to begin the multi-year process of designing the Greenway Rail Trail. This work is being funded by a generous grant of $300,000 from the 2022 MassTrails Grant Program, with a match of $100,000 from the Town in the form of Community Preservation funds. During the Spring of 2023 the Tighe & Bond team will focus on the preliminary work of surveying, base mapping, wetlands delineation and condition assessment of the bridges and culverts. Tighe & Bond anticipates the preliminary work will extend into late Summer/Fall of 2023, after which meaningful discussion with residents can begin. This will be the first of several opportunities for Southampton residents to offer their design input in this multi-year design process.
A second grant application has been submitted to the 2023 MassTrails Grant Program to fund further design and engineering work. The design process is expected to take 3-4 years to complete, based on the funding and regulatory programs involved, after which the construction of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Path will be put out to bid. It is expected that most of the construction funding will be provided by MassDOT.
