{"id":843,"date":"2026-09-26T10:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T10:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/?p=843"},"modified":"2026-09-26T17:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T17:47:17","slug":"new-state-support-to-advance-ashuwillticook-rail-trail-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/new-state-support-to-advance-ashuwillticook-rail-trail-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"New State Support to Advance Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Governor Maura Healey today celebrated a $64,700 state grant to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) to help advance the\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail expansion, building on a $17.3 million federal award secured last year for the transformative Western Massachusetts project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FFIO Director Quentin Palfrey\u00a0joined\u00a0several Western Massachusetts leaders, including\u00a0State Representative John Barrett and BRPC Executive Director Laura Brennan\u00a0in Adams to highlight the award and the broader\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail expansion.\u00a0As part of the\u00a0event,\u00a0Palfrey and\u00a0local leaders\u00a0participated\u00a0in\u00a0a bike ride from the Adams Visitor Center to the existing terminus of the\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail traces its origins back to 1845 when the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad first developed the corridor. Originally intended to connect the Housatonic Railroad north to Vermont, it evolved over nearly 150 years through multiple corporate hands\u2014including the Boston and Albany and the New York Central Railroads\u2014serving as a vital commercial branch for local limestone operations and mills. The tracks were officially abandoned in 1990, prompting a community-led push to convert the historic right-of-way into a recreational asset. The initial 9.8-mile segment of the trail officially opened to the public in 2001, transforming the abandoned rail bed between Lanesborough and Adams into a highly anticipated recreational path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail expansion \u2013 also known as the A2A Project \u2013 received a $17.3 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to support the design of a 9.3-mile shared-use path connecting the existing\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail to the Williamstown Mohican Path. The proposed route will travel through downtown North Adams and the MASS MoCA campus, creating new connections between communities and expanding the region\u2019s network for walking and biking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, and to download trail maps, visit the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail <\/a>page on Mass.gov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Maura Healey today celebrated a $64,700 state grant to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) to help advance the\u00a0Ashuwillticook\u00a0Rail Trail expansion, building on a $17.3 million federal award secured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-ashuwillticook-rail-trail"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/215\/2026\/09\/ART.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"arcadian","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/author\/arcadian\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citrus-lime.com\/arca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}