Picture this: A paved path winds through the woods from the Dover train station toward Central Avenue, bordered by green grass and trees on either side. It crosses the Cochecho River on what used to be an old railroad bridge, now resurfaced with a new timber decking and updated with aluminum rails, and travels under Silver Street through a 12 and-a-half foot high underpass with ample room for several people to walk side-by-side. Joggers pass by and bicyclists take advantage of the facility to exercise. Here and there a commuter walks home from work, choosing a less polluting and more invigorating form of transportation than their vehicles.

Can’t see it? In a few years, it may be a reality as Dover officials proceed with a plan that has been in the works since 1998—the development of a recreational-use community trail.

The most urban section of the trail is located in downtown Dover and will run from the train station at Chestnut Street all the way to Central Avenue, passing over Washington Street, under Silver Street and over Fisher Street. This piece is part of a much larger trail that has yet to be finalized, which, when completed, will run from the Rochester-Dover town line to Bellamy Park, following Sixth Street, then Central Avenue, to Dover Middle and High Schools and the park. In the future, the trail could be a regional project, says Dover City Planner Bruce Woodruff. Rochester officials are also considering a trail through their town, which would pick up where the Dover trail ends in the north.

Eighty percent of the Dover Community Trail, including the Chestnut Street to Central Avenue trail section, which by itself  comes with a $1.2 million price tag, will be paid for by the federal government’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program, says Woodruff. CMAQ returns Federal Highway Administration gas tax dollars to states for projects that lessen congestion and improve air quality. The remaining $240,000 will not come out of taxpayers’ pockets, says Woodruff, but will be subsidized by the City Transportation Improvement Program with funds from vehicle registration fees.

Plans for the community trail were developed from public input sessions and the city planning staff. City officials and members of the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, with authorization from city council members, applied for a CMAQ grant to fund the bike trail in 1998, according to Tom Fargo, chairman of the Dover Conservation Commission, a group designed to develop, protect and promote the city’s natural resources. An outline for the community trail was put into Dover’s master plan in 2000, Fargo said. Money for the trail was available in 2004 after going through an extensive state and federal review process. Officials hope to begin building the downtown section of the trail in the summer of 2007.
The community trail follows the abandoned Newington Branch Railway property. Some private landowners also own parts of the old railroad. In those cases, the town purchased the rights to use the property from the landowners, or the landowner donated the rights to the town. The landowners are not held liable for anything that happens on the property, Woodruff said.

All but one landowner, Fern Belknap, LLC, has agreed to sell or donate the land rights to the town for the downtown section.* (see below for correction)


The proposed trail would go around Fern Belknap's property on Washington Street by using existing sidewalks until it reaches the section of abandoned railway off of Folsom Street. Several abutters to the trail don’t support the project, expressing concerns of loitering and vandalism in their backyards.   

“We don’t want to force it on anybody,” says Woodruff, “but we’d prefer it to go on the old railroad.”
Through many meetings and public forums, the 14-member Dover Community Trail Design Group, made-up of abutters to the proposed trail and concerned citizens, established appropriate designs for the trail by listening to other abutters and citizens. One major concern by abutting residents was privacy. Design plans include privacy fences and planted vegetation for Belknap and Rutland Street residents, who have backyards that would face the trail and who requested them.

Several sections of the old railway already show signs of frequent loitering, which residents are hoping will disappear after the area is developed into a trail. Tom Sexton is director of the Northeast Regional Office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which has helped hundreds of communities and advocates build 13,150 miles of trails from old railroads. According to Sexton, loitering, vandals and dumping should all but disappear as the old railway is developed into a trail.

“Ninety-nine percent of those things will go away,” said Sexton. Because the frequency of users on the trail will increase, he said vandals and loiters don’t have as secluded an area to damage. “It’s remarkable how these incidents disappear as the trail becomes more formalized.”

Second Street resident Mandy Chalou has been a member of the trail design group since it was formed last summer. As a supporter of the trail, she sees it as an opportunity to preserve greenspace in Dover. Chalou says it could also be a facility that high school students, especially those living on Rutland and Belknap Streets, could use to walk to school. She also believes it would benefit businesses. Since it would be linked up with trails in other towns, people who travel on it would spend time, and money, in downtown Dover.

“It will also make family outings nicer, giving people a place to walk and enjoy themselves without having to leave town,” Chalou adds.

But not all community members are sold. Mary Parker, an abutter of the trail off of Belknap Street, is a member of the trail design group who has been less than satisfied with the development of the community path.

“When the public meetings first started, we were told if we had concerns (about the trail) we should join the Trail Design Group,” said Parker. She joined for that reason, but instead of a forum to discuss concerns, Parker said the design group was moving ahead with the trail, to the disappointment of several citizens.

“Many got frustrated and figured that they couldn’t do anything,” she said, so they didn’t come to any more meetings.

One of Parker’s biggest problems with the proposed trail is that it has grown in size, from six feet to up to 12 feet wide, and the materials used for a top cover have changed from gravel to blacktop, which opens it up to motorized vehicles and skateboarders and reduces the natural scenery of the area.

Belknap Street resident Jason Lucey is also a member of the design group. When Lucey initially heard about the trail, he did not want it running through his backyard. He has since changed his mind.

“I’ve been pleased with the way the design has developed,” said Lucey, “and how we’ve been allowed to participate in the design phases.”

For Lucey and other abutters, the biggest concern is “illicit activities” occurring on the trail. To prevent this, it would have a posted dawn-to-dusk curfew, except for the section from the train station to Washington Street, which will be lighted, plowed in the winter, and open 24 hours. 

“It’s an improvement of what’s already there,” said Lucey of the old railway. “But we’ll be watching out for anything.”

For more information about the Dover Community Trail, visit the project’s Web site at www.ci.dover.nh.us/planning/trail/trail.htm.

*Corection 2/14/06:Writer Nick Gosling incorectly named Jarrod Craig as the only downtown property owner yet to agree to sell or donate land rights for the greenway. The correct property owner of record is Fern Belknap, LLC.