July, 2009: The Clipper City Rail Trail is currently under construction and is about two-thirds complete.  Progress has been somewhat slowed by an uncooperative winter and a very rainy spring and early summer, but the contractor, S&R Construction Enterprises, anticipates substantial completion by the end of the calendar year.  (S&R’s contract with the Massachusetts Highway Department extends to March 2010.)  A significant element of the project, the new pedestrian bridge at Low Street, is currently scheduled to be installed on the evening of August 10th.  The City is continuing to pull together funding and a plan for various subsequent enhancements to the trail.

Project Plans (4 MB)

The Clipper City Rail Trail project is a 1.1 mile trail between the Merrimack River and the MBTA Commuter Rail Station.  The trail will be open to non-motorized uses such as bicycling, jogging, and walking. 

The idea of a rail trail has been discussed in the City of Newburyport since the 1970’s when railroad use of the corridor was abandoned.  The City has been working for many years to establish the Clipper City Rail Trail, a priority stated in the City’s 2001 Master Plan, 2003 Strategic Waterfront Plan, and 2005 Open Space and Recreation Plan.  The numerous tasks associated with this long-term project have included conducting title examinations to determine ownership, negotiation of right of way agreements and temporary easements, testing for contamination, applying for numerous grants, hiring and managing a design firm, hosting public meetings, permitting the project, and working with the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD) to finalize design and prepare for construction.  The design plans for this new public space were substantially completed in September 2007 and accepted by MHD, which advertised the project to receive bids on April 23rd, 2008.  Construction commenced in the summer of 2008.

The old rail corridor is owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and the City holds a 99-Year Lease for creation and operation of the rail trail.  Newburyport was the first municipality in the state to secure such a 99-year lease from the MBTA in 2005 in order to meet Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and MHD standards for investment of federal and state transportation funding.  The MBTA rail corridor has been used informally by the public as a footpath for years, and a portion has been adopted by a neighborhood.  However, it has contained substantial debris from the former railroad as well as typical low level contamination, lacks connectivity to other trails and sidewalks, lacks fencing, subjects users to an at-grade crossing at busy Low Street, and has experienced encroachments, dumping, flooding, overgrown vegetation, homeless encampments, and other problems.

The Clipper City Rail Trail will create a safe, attractive and vibrant new public space that will run a little over a mile from the MBTA Commuter Rail Station to the Merrimack River.  The 10-foot wide asphalt trail will provide the public with a safe and appealing off-road corridor for walkers, joggers, bicyclists, and other non-motorized users.  A new pedestrian bridge will cross over Low Street.  The multi-use trail will carve its way down the existing railroad embankment (which dead-ends high above the river at the old rail bridge) and connect directly with the growing Harborwalk along the shoreline.  The trail will cut easterly along the shoreline through the old railroad embankment and travel underneath the Route 1 Gillis Bridge, connecting with the Waterside West district and a sidewalk back to Merrimac Street.  The trail will connect such local institutions and attractions as the MBTA commuter rail station, Haley’s Ice Cream, the MetroRock North Indoor Rock Climbing Center, the Graf Skating Rink, Cashman Park and the shoreline of the Merrimack River.  Various bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants are a short distance from the trail.  The Clipper City Rail Trail is part of a larger envisioned regional trails network, including the Coastal Trails Network, the Border to Boston trail, and the Merrimack River Trail.

Funding for the design of the Clipper City Rail Trail came primarily through grants from MHD and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), as well as the Community Preservation Act (CPA).  The City hired Stantec (formerly known as Vollmer Associates) to develop the design for the facility.  The City also secured the commitment of $3 million in federal and state funding for construction of the trail as part of the regional Transportation Improvement Plan.  The primary source of funding is the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program, which is designated specifically for projects that help reduce congestion and tailpipe emissions including by definition bicycle and pedestrian pathways.  (This funding source cannot be used, for instance, for work on conventional roads or bridges, or schools and other general needs.)  The reliance on federal funding requires that the MHD take charge of advertising, contracting, and managing the construction of the project once the design is completed.  The City will be responsible for maintenance and operation once the trail is complete.  The City works closely with the MHD Resident Engineer to manage the contractor during the construction phase.

Coastal Trails Coalition Status Map

The City anticipates directly following the state’s construction of the basic rail trail with an “Enhancement Project” that will include the installation of benches, signage, play equipment, and other facilities that MHD has determined the federal transportation funding cannot support.  These facilities will make the trail more unique attractive, unique, and diverse.

The types of improvements that the City would like to implement as part of the Clipper City Rail Trail Enhancement Project include the following:

• Sculpture: A number of sculptures along the length of the corridor and will make the trail corridor uniquely attractive.  For a decade or so, the City has envisioned the old rail corridor as a potential linear sculpture park as a supplement to the trail, and we have been negotiating the donation, purchase, and loans of various pieces by Massachusetts artists and others.

• A custom-built half-scale play sculpture of a steam locomotive mounted on springs and a clipper ship – designed and built by craftsmen from a children’s museum – will provide a unique attraction for families as well as a tangible and innovative link to Newburyport’s history.

• Underpass mural: A local artist will be commissioned to develop and interesting and attractive mural to enliven the Route 1 bridge underpass at the Merrimack River shoreline.

• Site furniture such as high-quality benches will allow trail users to sit and enjoy various portions of the trail, contemplate the river, and watch their children playing.  In addition, two Big Belly solar trash compactor with recycling bins will facilitate trail users cleaning up after their pets and the proper disposal of litter, maintaining the attractiveness of the trail for everyone.
• Signage: Unique directional, orientation and interpretive signs will be designed and installed, particularly to serve new trail users.
• High quality, large format (36”x48”), reproductions of evocative old photographs of the rail corridor’s historic use as an active railway will provide visual links to the past for trail users.  Images will include the notable 1873 train wreck off of the Merrimac Street bridge as well as old train stations and other steam locomotives traveling through our City.

• A spur pathway connection to Haley’s Ice Cream, a popular ice cream/sandwich store and institution for many decades in Newburyport, will provide easy access to this destination which is located about 200 feet off of the trail.

The Clipper City Rail Trail will not be considered “done” until such facilities are installed.  The extent of the project will depend upon fund-raising.  While several grant requests are pending, generous funding commitments to date have come from the Mayor Gayden Morrill Charitable Foundation, the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, and the H. Patterson Hale Jr. Charitable Foundation, ENPRO Environmental Services, Coastal Trails Coalition, New England Development, as well as by the CPA.

Implementation is anticipated in 2009 and 2010 after the basic trail is constructed. 

Once the 1.1 mile portion of the Clipper City Rail Trail is constructed and the Enhancement Project is implemented, the City will be able to focus on the intensive amount of work required to extend the trail along the old City Branch rail corridor.  This corridor runs along the waterfront east of the Boardwalk and loops through the South End neighborhood to the east of the downtown.  Additional easements, licenses, and right-of-way agreements need to be secured, funding needs to be raised for design and construction, and design and permitting conducted to advance this phase of the rail trail.

Significant progress has been made on this extension of the rail trail by the City’s 2006 acquisition of approximately 10 acres of land owned by Guilford Transportation/B&M Railroad along the City Branch corridor.  This $418,000 project was the culmination of years of negotiation and was supported by Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding.  Note that the City is currently exploring the potential for a new public water supply compatible with the development of a trial on an 8.9 acre parcel of this land.

The City has also negotiated two long-term licenses from National Grid on portions of the City Branch corridor owned by the utility, including the substation, where the electric lines are underground.  The current amended licenses require that the City secure funding, complete the remaining right-of-way agreements, and finalize design and permitting by 2018 in order to “activate” the license.

In addition to private encroachments on the public corridor, the primary remaining right-of-way issues include property owned by:

• U.S. Coast Guard: The Coast Guard operates the Merrimack River Station on the waterfront behind the Tannery 5 building off of Water Street.  The City has worked periodically with various captains and station chiefs about running the path along the grass strip that currently separates the Tannery 5 parking lot from the Coast Guard parking lot and is not used by the Coast Guard.  While all have agreed in concept with the installation of the trail and appropriate fencing, the term of the license has been an issue that remains to be resolved.

• Norbert Carey: In 2003, a private citizen purchased a portion of the rail corridor formerly owned by Guilford Transportation/B&M Railroad off of High Street, and signed an agreement with the City to donate an easement for the rail trail once his purchase was recorded at the Registry of Deeds.  However, the purchase has not been recorded to date, and the easement not yet secured.

• National Grid: The publicly owned corridor is land-locked to the north of Parker Street in Newbury, and the portions of the corridor to the north and south of Parker Street are owned by National Grid.  There are overhead utility lines along this portion of the corridor, and additional negotiation is required with the company in cooperation with the Town of Newbury in order to secure a license for this area so that the trail can connect with Parker Street, plus Route 1 and the commuter rail station.

• Massachusetts Highway Department: Route 1 is a major obstacle between the old City Branch rail corridor and the MBTA commuter rail station.  A 2008 study by the transportation planning company VHB suggests that a pedestrian-activated signal at this location is the most feasible method to allow safe pedestrian and bicycle access across the highway.  The City in cooperation with the Town of Newbury must work with MHD to study and allow this crossing.

Riverside Cycle, a Newburyport bicycle store located at 50 Water Street in the Tannery complex, generously initiated a campaign on April 1, 2008 to provide financial support each year for the annual maintenance and stewardship of the Clipper City Rail Trail.  Riverside Cycle will donate $10 for every bicycle they sell and $5 for every bicycle tune-up they perform.  Aaron Millet, Riverside Cycle owner, expects to provide approximately $5,000 per year.  As an incentive for customers to shop locally, the store offers a lowest price guarantee for all bike shops within 50 miles. 

In addition, Newburyport residents Rich and Dolores Person organized the First Annual Happy Trails fund-raising party in July 2009, and raised over $6000 for care and maintenance of the trail.  Local citizens and the nonprofit Coastal Trails Coalition also organized a community yard-sale in October 2008 and raised $2,500 for maintenance of the trail.  Individuals have also contributed significant donations for the eventual stewardship of the rail trail.

The donated funds will be held by the non-profit City Improvement Society and used by the City for enhancing and taking care of the rail trail.  This type of public-private partnership is very important.  Typically, grants are available only for capital projects – not maintenance after the project is built.  Establishing such trails is a costly public investment, and a reliable funding method is needed to ensure that the facility is attractive and well-maintained for decades to come.  Too many public spaces suffer from deterioration due to cuts in annual municipal budgets or the inability of supporters to sustain repeated fund-raising.  The generosity of Riverside Cycle, the Persons, and others will help maintain and preserve the facility by providing a dedicated and reliable source of funding for stewardship and improve the quality of life in Newburyport.             

If you or your business would like to also contribute to or sponsor the Clipper City Rail Trail, please contact Geordie Vining, Senior Project Manager.