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New England's railroad corridors are a rich resource for creating
rail trails. Rail trails are pathways that run along abandoned
rail beds. They can have many different types of surfaces including
asphalt and crushed stone. Rail Trails are considered multi-use
trails because they can host a variety of recreation modes including
biking, walking, roller-blading, horseback riding.
Another opportunity that lies within the rail corridors of New
England is `rail with trails'. This describes a co-use situation.
Within a rail corridor, an active rail line is paralleled by
a bikeway. This allows the corridor to accommodate two distinctly
different types of transportation that rely on similar linear
pathways. By taking advantage of the abandoned and active corridors,
New England has an incredible resource for producing one of the
most intricate interstate and environmentally responsible transportation
systems in the United States.
Rail Trail Results
New England's greatest potential for trail building lies within
the rail corridors. Currently there are 283 miles of rail trails.
The author boldly proposes an additional 2724 miles of rail trails.
That's more than half of the total amount of abandoned railroads
in New England. With the addition of these proposed rail trails,
New England has, for the first time, a Comprehensive Trail Plan
for the 21st century. This plan encompasses more than 3752 miles
of trail. The wave of rail trails is upon New England. It is
time to catch and ride the rail trail wave into the twenty-first
century.
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