MickD wrote:Just to note that the Dennis Register reported last week that the South Dennis to Station Ave. (S.Yarmouth) rail trail extension is more a less a done deal,and that there's quite a bit of private funding to go along with whatever they get from the state. Old Bass River Rail Bridge has been gone since at least last fall too.
Full story here:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/tops ... z1GRPqAWel
Trail link may include Dennis depot - Funding on schedule for 2012
By Nicole Muller
The Register
Posted Mar 11, 2011 @ 04:00 PM
SOUTH DENNIS — Dennis Town Engineer Joe Rodricks is a mighty patient man.
Tuesday night Rodricks brought Dennis selectmen good news: “The Cape Cod Rail Trail, which has been in development 20-plus years, will soon see completion through Dennis and into Yarmouth.”
The Dennis component is due to receive Transportation Incentive Program funding in 2012 and 2013. A 25 percent design plan has been submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. A public hearing will be scheduled in three to six months, at which time the design engineer will present the entire project.
The trail will pick up at the present terminus near Barb’s Bike Shop on Route 134, cross the four-lane road via a bicycle bridge and continue across Main Street, South Dennis, north of the Town Hall parking lot.
“There’s been a lot of concern about the Main Street crossing because of the traffic and speed in that area,” Rodricks said. “The designer included a separation island with a granite curb and speed bumps to force cars to slow to 30 mph. This road could use some traffic calming.”
The project proposes a 49-space parking lot for trail access, lighting and plenty of “green screening,” landscaping to ensure neighbors’ privacy.
The crowning touch, Rodricks said, is a proposed train depot building that would be an exact replica of the one that existed at that location in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rodricks said the replica depot would be, “a town building used seasonally for beach sticker sales.”
The depot plan, said Burt Derick of South Dennis, would provide a gateway into Dennis for walkers and bikers on the rail trail. “In addition, the security of Town Hall is compromised on summer weekends when it’s open for sticker sales,” said Derick, who showed selectmen the original footprint drawing of the 20x40 foot depot, which he bought for $20 on eBay.
Derick’s proposal includes restrooms at either end of the building, a small utility room, a “ticket cage” and a waiting room. The exterior will be an exact replica of the original. “We have innumerable details on the depot, its doors, windows,” Derick said. “We also have the original depot sign at Jericho [Historical House in West Dennis] so we can duplicate it.”
A chamber of commerce kiosk and an archaeological display introducing visitors to the Indian lands behind Town Hall could also be housed in the depot.
“I want to tell you, if the state won’t build it, the people in this town will,” Derick said. “There are a lot of eager benefactors for this project with their checkbooks open.”
Rodricks said the state would probably provide the foundation if townspeople commit to funding it and selectmen endorse the plan. “Burt, you got me fired up,” said Selectman Alan Tuttle. “I think it would be great if a non-profit group would get it off the ground.”
Selectwoman Heidi Schadt suggested a meeting with neighbors. Rodricks said the state requires a public hearing on the rail trail and the depot project could be included. “The state will build the parking lot and all that’s associated with the rail trail. Since the parking lot will be on town land and the depot on both town and state property, this would be a joint project that promotes tourism.”
Selectmen unanimously agreed to “conceptually adopt” the depot proposal.