INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION A Commitment to Pathways

The city of Easthampton is committed to providing safe and pleasant walking and biking trails for the utility and enjoyment of city residents. In a survey conducted for the 2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan, 91 percent of respondents listed nonmotorized trail use as a favorite activity, and 55 percent of respondents listed new nature trails as the city’s greatest recreational need (OSRP, 60). Easthampton has many popular recreation areas including the Manhan Rail Trail and Nonotuck Park. There is a recognized need to connect these assets to one another, an to schools and neighborhoods throughout Easthampton. There is also a need for more universallyaccessible trails so that all Easthampton residents can access natural areas. The second listed community goal in the OSRP is to create a network of connections to the Manhan Rail Trail as well as adding parks and open spaces.

This commitment to pathways is strongly represented in the city’s 2008 Master Plan. Both the 2008 Master Plan and the 2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan list connecting the Manhan Rail Trail to schools and other community facilities as a high priority. The Master Plan identifies increasing bicycle and pedestrian connectivity and walk-ability within the city is a top strategy for revitalizing downtown. According to the plan, the Manhan Rail Trail has greatly benefited the city by encouraging development in the downtown mill area, raising land values near the trail, attracting visitors to the downtown, and increasing walk-ability for Easthampton residents.

School Consolidation

In 2018, voters approved a plan to construct a new school for all Easthampton pre-K through eighth grade students, to be built at the site of the current White Brook Middle School. Students who would otherwise attend school at four different elementary schools will attend the White Brook School beginning in 2022. This consolidation will lengthen the commute for some students, and will shorten the commute for others. After the consolidation, students living in south Easthampton, a neighborhood colloquially known as the Plains, will be within walking distance of school. However, existing infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists between the Plains and the White Brook School is lacking, meaning students may be dependent on transportation by car or bus to get to school. The planned school consolidation has raised interest in creating safe routes for students to walk or bike to school. In 2019 and 2020, the city’s planning department commissioned a set of studies by students at the Conway School of Landscape Design in Northampton to help envision new pedestrian and bicycle routes for students and residents of Easthampton.

Emerging Pathways: A Conceptual Multi-Use Trail Network (2019)

In 2019 a team of students conducted a preliminary study to assess the existing infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists and determine potential routes to connect residential neighborhoods to the downtown area, the new school, and protected green spaces. The report found that the Manhan Rail Trail, built in 2004, “provides safe A network of multi-use trails proposed in the 2019 Emerging Pathways report. The Plains to School project provides a detailed examination of the proposed Route 5 connecting the Plains to the White Brook School.

walking and cycling infrastructure and supports non-motorized transit,” but elsewhere, “dilapidated sidewalks, narrow streets, and high-traffic roads within Easthampton obstruct safe, continuous pedestrian and bicycle movement through the city” (Gessinger, 3). The authors propose a network of multi-use path segments to improve pedestrian and bicyclist mobility throughout the city by improving infrastructure along existing roadways and developing new paths through conserved open spaces. The Plains to School project provides a close examination of a single route proposed in the Emerging Pathways study to connect pedestrians and cyclists in the Plains to the White Brook School and Nonotuck Park (route 5 in the map above). The goals of the Plains to School project are to assess the feasibility of the proposed route, consider alternative routes, gather community feedback, and create a preliminary design for an accessible path between the Plains and the White Brook School.