Baboosic Greenway: Amherst South 05

This segment of the Baboosic Greenway is in southern Amherst, between Boston Post Rd at Davis Witty Rd and the Buck Meadow conservation & recreation land. It spans 5,111 linear feet providing direct access from Souhegan High School and Amherst Middle School to the Ponemah Bog as well as the Buck Meadow conservation & recreation land.

A photo of the area of the transmission lines along the route of Amherst South-05

Location

This project is situated between Baboosic Greenway segment Amherst South 04 to the north at a proposed roundabout at Boston Post Rd/Davis Witty Rd and the Buck Meadow conservation & recreation land.

Map of the proposed treatments and routing of Amherst South 05

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to complete a segment of the Baboosic Greenway by the establishment of ROW and a shared-use path connecting the Buck Meadow conservation & recreation land. This segment of the route has perennially appeared in local plans, studies, and requests in the Town of Amherst as it stands to serve a crucial role in a north-south alternative transportation corridor in town.

This project continues to build out the mission of the Baboosic Greenway, which 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 facilities such as these provide area residents with a unique opportunity to move throughout their town and the region off-road, offering a peaceful journey reduced 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 on a busy roadway.

Need

The southern school campus which includes the Souhegan High School and the Amherst Middle School is fairly isolated in town. Access to these facilities generally requires the use of motor vehicles. While the continued pursuit of the Baboosic Greenway will improve this generally, this segment of the route would provide an important connection between the school campus area and the Buck Meadow conservation and recreation land. As these two areas are host to recreational facilities, this would provide an alternative transportation corridor between these recreational facilities, which have an annual usage of approximately 30,000 persons. Connecting these two areas would provide recreational, athletic, and transportation access to these important amenities in town and connect them directly to our local schools. Furthermore, this route also would directly connect a local senior center, allowing residents to utilize this facility and have significantly improved mobility options.

Data

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

Project Status

The current status of Amherst South 05 is as follows: