Baboosic Greenway: Amherst North-02

The Amherst North-02 segment is an essential part of the Baboosic Greenway, strategically extending from Walnut Hill Road to Baboosic Lake Road, with a spur to the Meeting Place Mall. Much of this segment is already town-owned and managed by the Amherst Conservation Commission, with frequent use by the public today. This project, having been integrated into the NH DOT Ten Year Plan in 2018, received robust support from Amherst voters in March 2024. The Town of Amherst, in partnership with NH DOT, has embarked on implementing this 10,800-foot trail segment that promises to enhance connectivity and accessibility for the community.

A photo of the rail trail along Amherst North-02

Location

This segment of the Baboosic Greenway is found in central Amherst. The route spans a total of 10,812 linear feet mostly along the abandoned Milford and Manchester Branch rail bed, with a spur connecting the route to the Meeting Place Mall. The route begins at the southern terminus of Amherst North-01 at the intersection of Embankment Rd and Walnut hill where it runs southwesterly to the eastern terminus of Amherst North-03 at the intersection of Baboosic Lake Rd and the onramp of NH 101 East.

Map of the proposed treatments and routing of Amherst North-02

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Baboosic Greenway stands to create a regional spine for a broader off-road trail network for the purposes of enhancing safety, increase regional mobility, and expand accessibility for persons who are unable to transport themselves by motor vehicle.

Connectivity-focused trails such as these provide area residents with a unique opportunity to move throughout their town and the region off-road, offering a peaceful journey with little or no interaction with motor vehicles. This can provide exceptionally safe and convenient mobility for multimodal users, especially if they are a member of a vulnerable population or if their route would otherwise take them along a busy roadway.

By design, off-road trails offer network connectivity opportunities beyond that of any roadway network.  They provide nonmotorized transportation access to natural and recreational areas and in particularly scenic environments. These routes support outdoor activities through convenient access to natural areas or as an enjoyable recreational opportunity itself.

Often these off-road trails can become a cultural backbone of outdoor activity, providing residents and visitors opportunities to see and interact with other members of their community, something that over-reliance on motorized transportation has largely removed from our daily lives. For these and many other reasons, the safety and cultural value of off-road trails as a part of greater multimodal network cannot be overstated.

Today, the region has a robust network of off-road trails which offer a wide variety of mobility options to residents. Some trails may connect points of interest, while others may offer solely recreational opportunities. Many of these trails form an existing network that is robust in some areas and limited in others. Given the area’s largely forested and rural geography, a multimodal network limited to roadside options would fail to meet the region’s full potential. Thus, a driven and organized effort to pursue the development and enhancement of a network of trails would offer vastly expanded opportunities for our multimodal residents.

Need

As the route of the Baboosic Greenway is well defined along the Manchester & Milford Branch rail bed, the completion of each segment becomes essential in the effort to build the larger project. It will not be possible to construct this major regional project without each segment and this segment is no exception.

The completion of this particular segment would form a vital connection along this route which will immediately benefit several neighborhoods in the Walnut Hill Area by providing contiguous access the Amherst Village and the Town of Milford, as well as future connectivity to the Town of Bedford.

Portions of this segment already see heavy use by the public along the northeastern, town owned parcel 006-121-000. This segment is frequently used by local residents for walking, biking, and equestrian activities from the adjacent Walnut Hill Equestrian Facility.

This particular segment of the Baboosic Greenway does offer several specific additions to the larger route, including:

• The connection of neighborhoods around Baboosic Lake to the larger Baboosic Greenway route, providing them direct access to this regional facility
• Direct access to the Walnut Hill Equestrian Facility
• Direct access to Amherst Conservation Commission land, including Pond Parish trail area
• Direct access to Amherst Recreation Department’s Birch Park

Data

Calculating the data of this project, linear feet numbers of each treatment are provided below:

Project Status

The current status of Amherst North-02 is as follows: