State Grants Pave Way for Trail Upgrades in Berkshires

The Berkshire Eagle  reports local bikers, hikers and snowmobilers will have better trails to traverse, thanks to nearly half a million dollars in state grants.

Gov. Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation this week awarded $454,000 to 10 Berkshire-area projects, mainly to upgrade trails or construct new ones.

Overall, the DCR is spending $5 million from its MassTrails program on 71 projects across the commonwealth. The awards range from $10,000 to $100,000. State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, sees the money as an economic investment from the Berkshires to Cape Cod.

North Adams also received the maximum $100,000 award for design, engineering and permitting for the city's portion of the Mohawk Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail that will link the city with the Williamstown section of the trail. The plan calls for 2 1/2 miles of trail in Williamstown. An additional mile of the trail is planned in North Adams.

City officials say the state grant will help them obtain federal and other state money to construct the 1-mile stretch.

Eventually, the city's aim is to connect the trail to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail in Adams, where it stretches south all the way to Lanesborough.

The new path will run parallel to the runway at Harriman-and-West Airport, terminating at Airport Road. North Adams officials learned in June that the Federal Aviation Administration still needs to approve the project.