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Imagining a walkable New Hampshire

By Dan Szczesny

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This all started with a troll; more specifically, the Heritage Troll, a large wooden sculpture built by artist Tom LeComte and placed along a trail behind Stark Park in Manchester. My daughter, ever the little explorer, took about one minute to find the troll, and about 10 seconds to ask, “Are there more?”

Finding the answer to that question took me down a decades-long road of city planning and sustainable design, all of which may be coming to a head this spring in a way that could change the infrastructure of transportation in the Merrimack Valley.

But first, the troll.

The installation is part of the newly refurbished trail system behind the park that organizers call Walk in the Woods. In the summer and fall of 2021, the lower 15 acres of Stark Park were redesigned and landscaped back to the walking park originally envisioned when the Heritage Trail was designed and built along the Merrimack River. Charming bridges now span babbling brooks, park benches are set up to rest weary feet, and a tree troll — sitting nearly as high as my daughter is tall — now casts a watchful eye out over the river.

During our hike I noticed how close the new (old) trail system is to the Merrimack River. But there are no spur trails to take a walker out there and the reason is the active set of railroad tracks that runs from Manchester to Concord along the river and divides the park from the river.

For 12 years various biking/walking and developing groups have been trying to convince Pan Am Railways to allow rail trails to be built alongside their active tracks, said Jason Soukup, the board secretary of Manchester Moves, one of the organizations working on rail trail projects around the city. The problem right now is liability.

“We found a gap in New Hampshire law, compared to other states like Maine, in the current Rec Use Law on the books that doesn’t protect the railway,” he said. “We’re trying to change that.”

Last year Pan Am sold the railway to CSX Transportation, a railway company that already has established active use railroad lines right next to rail trails around the country.

“If we give them liability protection, they’ll do it,” said Soukup.

On Jan. 20, House Bill 1579 (The Rail with Trail Bill) was introduced into the House Judiciary Committee for study. This May, when the railroad sale is finalized, supporters say passing the bill will protect the railway from liability and open the door to rail trail development.

Beside Manchester Moves, the bill is supported by a wide coalition of rail trail supporters, including the New Hampshire Rail Trail Coalition, The City of Manchester, the Friends of Stark Park, New Hampshire DOT and the Rails to Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C.

While it may seem strange that such a coalition is putting this much support behind a fairly obscure bipartisan bill, there’s a much larger picture here to consider.

Should the bill pass and the railway relent to allow a rail trail to be built alongside its tracks, that would connect a critical 31-mile “gap” in the Granite State Rail Trail. The nearly contiguous 125-mile rail trail that runs from Salem to Lebanon is missing one critical section: the piece between Manchester and Concord. Connect that part along the active tracks, and one could in theory walk or bike the entire length of the trail without having to touch a road.

“Imagine, for tourism and connectivity, being able to get on your bike and ride safely wherever you want,” Soukup said. “A community you can connect to without having to use a car is a better community.”

Rail Trail supporters have never been so close to making the statewide corridor a reality. And rail trails, in general, make perfect routes for beginner walkers who want to experience hiking during all seasons.

But while we wait for May, Walk in the Woods and the Heritage Trail, which continues on for another two miles behind the Youth Services Center off River Road, is open for exploration.

Meanwhile, to answer my daughter’s question, the Manchester Trolls may well be multiplying. Word has it that plans are in the works to find homes for several others, including somewhere along the Rockingham Trail. And don’t be surprised if Arms Park suddenly becomes a troll home.

“This all falls under the umbrella of making our neighborhoods better,” Soukup said. “We want to encourage people to stay here, explore local places, and that means investing in those places.”

Dan Szczesny is a long time journalist and hiker and a member of New Hampshire’s 4,000-footer club. He’s written travel memoirs about Nepal and Alaska and about hiking with kids. His latest books include The White Mountain: Rediscovering the Hidden Culture of Mount Washington and NH Rocks That Rock: An Adventure Guide to 25 Famous Boulders in the Granite State. He lives in Manchester with his wife and daughter. See danszczesny.com

Featured photo: The author’s daughter finds the Rail Troll, a sculpture by artist Tom LeComte. Photo by Dan Szczesny.