Published: 4/6/2021 1:32:58 PM
SOUTHAMPTON — The town is a step closer to constructing a long-awaited multi-use path linking the Manhan Rail Trail closer to the Columbia Greenway Trail in Westfield after securing a $100,000 state grant for the project.
The grant will help purchase the defunct rail bed that starts just over the Southampton border at Coleman Road on the Easthampton line. The 3.5 mile stretch of rail bed that the town intends to buy would run to Route 10 near Sheldon’s Ice Cream. Across the street from the southern terminus of the Manhan Rail Trail, the paved path for cyclists and pedestrians currently gives way to a dilapidated rail bed owned by Pioneer Valley Railroad.