Tag Archives: SNETT Franklin

Progress on the SNETT, Bellingham and Blackstone

Center Street to Rt. 126 section of the SNETT now complete in Bellingham, MA

We have spent the past several weeks exploring the SNETT (Southern New England Trunkline Trail) that runs quite near our home. Improvements have just been completed from Center Street in Bellingham, MA west to Rt. 126, near the Blackstone, MA line. What has up to now been one of the more challenging sections of the SNETT, this portion of the trail has limited views, but is key to opening up further sections of the SNETT west of here. Park at the Center Street parking area. Once parked, head west. An additional, Harpin Street entrance is next to DiPietro Elementary School, with parking across the street at the athletic fields. This area was until recently a barrier for those wanting to access other western sections of the trail.

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Franklin/Bellingham SNETT Tunnel!

Prospect Street Tunnel in Franklin, along the SNETT is open for visitors!

Prospect Street has been a huge barrier on the SNETT in Franklin for many years. When the trail was still a rail line, a bridge carried local traffic over the rail line. When the line fell into disuse, apparently it was easier (and short term was cheaper) to fill the rail line with dirt rather than repair the bridge. Since then, the SNETT has been getting developed as a rail trail, section by section,

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Excitement on the trail Bellingham SNETT

Bittersweet vines cascade alongside the trail

The morning was overcast, and we started relatively early. Both are great strategies for finding fewer people on trails that have felt overcrowded in these days when we are still rather limited in our activities due to the ongoing pandemic. Sure enough, only one other car was in the parking lot when my friend and her children arrived to meet me for a physically distanced walk along the SNETT in Bellingham.

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Progress on the SNETT Franklin

Looking down at the SNETT where the culvert/tunnel will be built, from Prospect Street

The SNETT as a proposed rail trail travels from Franklin, MA all the way to Douglas, and some progress has been made. An entire section in Blackstone, through Millville and on to Uxbridge, is complete. A portion in Bellingham is finished. But barriers remain. We stopped by Prospect Street in Franklin to see what is happening to build the tunnel (really a large culvert) underneath Prospect Street that will facilitate travel along the SNETT from Franklin to Bellingham.

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Progress on the SNETT Lake Street to Prospect Street, Bellingham-Franklin

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Lake Street Entrance to the SNETT-older, town-made sign on the right, and newer, DR sign at trailhead on the left

The SNETT is within walking distance of where I live in Bellingham, and thus I’ve been able to keep a pretty close eye on any progress, or lack thereof, in making this section of trail more useable. Continue reading

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Preview of the Walking Tour

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Goat Hill, Uxbridge, just one gorgeous spot along the trail

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The stone bridge over the Blackstone River, inspiration for this year’s wonderful publicity poster

Have you ever worked on a project for a long time and finally see it all coming together? If so, you can imagine our excitement as the beginning of the Massachusetts Walking Tour nears. http://masswalkingtour.org/ I met with the founders, Mark and Raianne, last summer at Booklover’s Gourmet Café in Webster http://www.er3.com/book/ to talk about how this year’s tour might work, how they might use the Easy Walks in Massachusetts book series to help them plan out their route, and how best we could work together. Very soon, they will hit the road, and I’ll join them as often as I can manage. Continue reading

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Franklin Gets Ready for the Massachusetts Walking Tour

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Folks at the Franklin library (temporary location, just off Grove Street,) are getting ready to welcome the Massachusetts Walking Tour, and everyone who wants to share in this event, Friday, June 23 from 6-8PM.

It’s been almost a year in preparation, but the Massachusetts Walking Tour is nearly ready to come to town.  Over 11 days in June, this group of musicians will be backpacking their instruments and camping gear from one town to the next, offering free concerts each evening in a different town. Now that the tour is all planned out, the grants written and granted by wonderful folks such as the Franklin Cultural Council, venues are booked, and places for the touring musicians to camp have been arranged, it’s time to get the word out. Continue reading

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