Newtown’s Link To Regional Rail Trail Is Blocked At The Border

By Dottie Evans

So near and yet so far.

There is a 16-mile, north-south greenway corridor once used by the Housatonic Railroad now being improved for the benefit of bicyclists, joggers, and trail walkers of all ages. Some portions of this trail are already completed, and regular users know where in Monroe, Trumbull, and Bridgeport they can hop on and off. They also know that at the Newtown border, they must turn around. What they don’t know is why.

Like a coal-fired locomotive chugging slowly up a three-percent grade, the movement to create a pedestrian-friendly greenway known as the Greater Pequonnock Valley Bicycle Path is gathering steam.

Since the idea for a regional rail trail first took hold in 1992, three separate federal-aid projects have been undertaken in towns south of Newtown for the purpose of linking together sections of the defunct 1840s Housatonic railbed.

The nearest completed section to Newtown is known as the Monroe Housatonic Railbed Trail. It offers a 4.5-mile forested corridor that has been beautifully groomed in asphalt and stone dust for a smooth, safe bike ride and easy walking. In April 2006, it was named Trail of the Month by the nationally organized Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, which is a political action group poised to help states get grants for trail enhancement.

A five-mile section in Trumbull traverses Old Mine Park and crosses the Pequannock River on a timber bridge that was paid for by a 2004 US Department Of Agriculture (DOA) grant. A $240,000 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant was awarded in February 2006 to make further improvements to Trumbull’s rail trail. The money will be used to widen it to 14 feet, install benches, and establish better access.

Bridgeport is in the process of finishing its section, called the Berkshire Rail Spur Trail. Ending at Waterfront Park, it will eventually serve as the rail trail’s southern terminus.

No Newtown Terminus — Yet

More than 150 years ago, steam trains on the Housatonic Railroad ran from Bridgeport to Newtown’s Botsford Station and points north. Today those trains are history and the rails and ties have been removed, but the 16-mile greenway corridor once used by the railroad is largely intact.

While the other towns are working to improve their sections of the rail trail, Newtown has been unable to get started. And though a person can “walk the line” in Newtown by following the old, unimproved rail bed behind three residences and through a swampy pine woods, one hardly feels welcome.

This is because Newtown’s portion is landlocked and there is no official access. Instead, there is a gated barrier off Swamp Road where an unfriendly sign announces “No Unauthorized Vehicles.”  Though the town may actually be able to claim the defunct rail bed as “open space,” nobody except three abutting homeowners can get in there to use it. As years go by, the vines and trees are taking over.

Residents like Jim Wright of Tamarack Road have become increasingly frustrated at this state of affairs. They believe the town should be doing more to provide access to the regional rail trail just south of the border.

 “Finish that 1,600 feet of graded railbed and open access to 16 miles of bike-hike trail. It’s a winner for the town, but I sometimes think it will never happen,” Mr Wright said in February.

Mike Le Moyne of Monroe, senior project manager for Fleet Environmental in Newtown, says he and his two kids are “out on the Monroe section of the trail at least three times a week.”

“When is Newtown going to finish its end?” he asks.

Among the many hurdles are not only access, but also objections by some of the abutting homeowners, lack of funds to develop the trail, and the existence of a contaminated brownfield in Botsford known as the Batchelder site.

Bogged Down By Batchelder

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal was interviewed about prospects for the rail trail in early May.

“Our problems hinge primarily upon the highly contaminated, 30-acre Batchelder property where a portion of the trail might go,” said Mr Rosenthal.

The George Batchelder Company conducted an aluminum smelting operation from 1947 to 1987 to reuse scrap metals such as transformers, painted venetian blinds, and automobile parts. These and other discarded items were fed into a smelter to melt the aluminum, thereby creating waste products. During the process, small particles that precipitated from the smelter furnace were piled around the site and the groundwater became polluted. After a 1984 explosion killed one worker and damaged the structural integrity of the main building, the Batchelder Company was cited for environmental and safety violations. Its doors were closed permanently in February 1987, and it has been abandoned ever since. In the late 1980s, the company went into bankruptcy.

Mr Rosenthal said that solving the Batchelder problem by finding an investor who was willing to go in and clean it up for another use had been “an eight-year struggle” further complicated by the bankruptcy issue.

“We had hoped to find a private user to go in and take it over. Now it looks like the best option would be if the bankruptcy court would settle and allow Newtown to go in,” he said.

“Using federal money, we would clean it up. Then we would apply for an easement that would give us access to the rail trail. There is already an entrance road we could use and a place to park a few cars.

“Resolve that and we’re there,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The first selectman also mentioned a hopeful “new configuration” of open space organizations in town resulting in a Park and Recreation Department Trails Committee that will number 13 volunteers.

The committee will be headed by Newtown resident Susan Merchant who is a local real estate attorney. As an enthusiastic hiker and believer in the rail trail concept, she is optimistic about Newtown’s future ability participate.

 “[Completing this trail] is not a dead issue at all,” Ms Merchant said.

“In fact, there is nothing that is nearer and dearer to my heart. But there are some major problems that must be settled first,” she said, adding that the possibility of environmental contamination is most worrisome.

“Our section of the rail trail is not going to be finished overnight,” Ms Merchant said. “But I’m hoping we can work on parts of it as times goes on and sometime put it all together.”

Light At The End

Of The Tunnel?

First Selectman Rosenthal also expressed hope for a breakup in the logjam that is Batchelder.

“There is the imminent possibility that the town may soon be able to begin the long-awaited cleanup process — thanks to the efforts of a company formed in 2003 by former Democratic Congressman James Maloney of Connecticut.”

 “Jim’s company [called Connecticut Resources] is in the business of acting as intermediary between towns with expensive cleanup sites and outside organizations interested in going into the site if it can be made habitable.

“Batchelder may have two or three acres that would provide access to the bike trail from Swamp Road. The bankruptcy trustees are ready to work with us. I think we’re getting closer to the end,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Mr Maloney added the following comments on May 16.

“Batchelder is so polluted that the cost of cleanup is greater than the value of the land itself were it to be sold on the open market. We’re talking $3 million to clean a property that would sell for only $1.5 million.

“But once the property is released by the bankruptcy court, Newtown could apply for grants to get the job done. At that point, there would be an excellent opportunity for the town to discuss the greenway-bike trail situation and put into place a plan for its development,” Mr Maloney said.

“We might get the court’s blessing within two to four months. The actual cleanup would take two to five years, and grant applications would have to go out. Perhaps you could start working on a parcel nearest to the railbed trail.”

Like Susan Merchant, James Maloney sees Newtown’s rail trail project coming together in stages.

Another proponent is Lee Hossler of Stepney, an avid trail-biker who has ridden many of the country’s newly completed rails-to-trails bikeways.

“It would be so awesome,” Mr Hossler said, “if Newtown could finish its section soon. But they should keep those old siding rails that haven’t been pulled for their historical and educational value. Then put in some picnic tables and benches [similar to what Monroe has installed at its Pepper Street access point].

“I love the sight of those old iron rails with the huge tree trunks growing up between the ties. It has so much ambience. People could enjoy biking and imagine what used to be.”