Welcome to TrailCam! Yes finally, a web-cam on a rail trail. Northampton DPW plowing the Ryan Bikeway at night. Click HERE or  paste this address into a new browser window http://trailcam.ourlinksys.com/img/image.cgi?next_file=main_fs.htm  to go to TRAIL CAM. This site has been set up as a service to assist groups and communities who are building rail trails, anywhere in the United States,.   Though many people are familiar with a rail trail, and the good things they bring to communities, many more people are not familiar with them.  This site will allow people to view at it at their own convenience, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.   Additionally, many of the people with concerns about rail trails coming to their community are those who live next to a planned project.    Since our house sits eight (8) feet from the oldest municipally operated rail trail in southern New England—the City of Northampton’s Ryan Bikeway—we thought it might be useful for people to be able to see just what goes on, on a mature rail trail in a diverse community.  Bike Trailers Horses on the trail. Blowin' the leaves Blowin' the snow Multi-generational walkers Biking to school. Not usually seen. Trikes and Saxophones too! FAMILIES LINKS to some of the most interesting studies and reports about trails from the region and beyond. Here's some links to other surveys of users 1. The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in Massachusetts has recently done an updated survey of the nearby Norwottuck Rail Trail. Click here to be taken to a pdf of the survey's results.  2. Rhode Island DOT did a recent survey of all their paths and the results can be found here. 3. York County PA also did a recent survey of the users on their trail network which can be found here. 4. New Hampshire DOT recently commissioned a study to find out just how many people would be using the proposed Salem to Concord bikeway.  The report, done by Alta Planning + Design and Rizzo Associates can be found here. The report is a thorough look at the number and kind of users on three of New England's most widely known paths--and taking this data to project-out what sort of numbers one would expect to see to see on the proposed New Hampshire rail trail. 5. Indiana DOT and DNR commissioned a study in the summer and fall of 2000 to take an in depth look at some of the more popular trail projects in the state.  The entire report can be seen here. 6. In 1999, the Michigan Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources at Michigan State University received an Enhancemenst Award from the Michigan Department of Transportation to take an extended, indepth look at the benefits of a rail trail. The Pere Marquette Rail Trail was chosen and site set up to show the results of this project can be found here. PLOWING THE PATH One of the longest open rail-trails in New England, located in the City of Northampton, Mass., has been getting the snowy end of the stick for years. The Ryan Bikeway, also known as the City of Northampton Bikeway, has been open since 1984 but has never known the benefits of a snow plow --until the winter of 2003-04. Over the years, this recreation trail has evolved into a transportation trail as the number of people using it for more utilitarian purposes has steadily increased, including children walking and biking to school each day. The city has realized not plowing the trail and allowing it to remain snow-covered for limited user groups such as cross-country skiers is unwise public policy. In fact, even cross-country use was hindered due to people trudging through the snow on a daily basis, trampling down the path with thousand of When a city councilor was provided with evidence that other areas in New England plow their trails, he took it to Mayor Higgins who, in turn, asked the head of the DPW about its capability to plow the trail as part of a regular route through the city. After researching the project, the DPW agreed to integrate plowing of the trail into the route. They use three pieces of specialized equipment: a six-wheeled tractor with a snow-blower attachment and a bulldozer tread tractor with a plow. If the trail needs sand after it is plowed, they will follow up using a four-wheel drive pickup with a sander body. MassBike has a section on their homepage devoted to up-to-date information about places that plow bike paths, primarily in eastern Massachusetts. It can be seen at www.massbike.org Comments? Let me know. First Name Last Name Company Name Address Line 1 City State Zip Code E-mail Address Comments This site has been brought to you by the Sugar Maple Trailside Inn in Northampton, Massachusetts, where the web cam is located.  © by Sugar Maple Trailside Inn