NORTHAMPTON — Completing the 81-mile New Haven & Northampton Greenway could mean an economic boost of $36 million to $82 million for communities along the north-south path, according to a just-released economic impact study.
The 36-page “Economic Impact Analysis of the New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway,” prepared by Cambridge Econometrics of Northampton and authored by Executive Vice President Dan Hodge and Ann Ormsbee, a senior economist, outlines the benefits that would accrue for new and existing businesses in the tourism industry, from restaurants and bike shops to hotels and bed and breakfasts.
Craig Della Penna, principal of Northeast Greenway Solutions, said in a statement that having an uninterrupted trail for bicyclists and pedestrians would attract out-of-state spending.
“I want people from New York and Connecticut to be able to ride to Massachusetts, so those out-of-state dollars come into our state, and vice versa,” said Della Penna, of Northampton, and a longtime advocate for trails and greenways. “This report shows that will happen.”
The report indicates that existing bicycle and pedestrian trail users spend $15.1 million each year. Finishing the trail, in the next five to 15 years, would bring this spending up to $32 million to $54 million, helping to support new jobs and new or expanded businesses, and placing the overall impact at between $68 million and $114 million.
In Hampshire County, the greenway encompasses Northampton, Easthampton and Southampton. Currently, about 65 of the 81 miles that run along the historic north-south route of the Farmington Canal are complete. This includes 3.5 miles in Northampton, known as the Norwottuck Rail Trail, and 3.7 miles in Easthampton, there called the Manhan Rail Trail.
But there are gaps, and the report notes that when a trail is not continuous this poses problems for those who want to use it to get from one point to another. The completion of the trail is needed to encourage overnight visitors, who will then spend more in the regions they pass though, whether on food, lodging or merchandise at bike shops and gift shops.
Hodge said unfinished segments make it harder to promote multi-day, overnight trips.
“Ones that are continuous can encourage, attract and promote the multi-day visits,” Hodge said. “That’s the most spending per visit — when people are traveling through overnight.”
One of those gaps is 3.9 miles between Southampton and Westfield, or the Southampton Greenway, expected to be finished in the early 2030s, and another is the one-third complete, 7.4-mile Columbia Greenway Rail Trail in Westfield. Other gaps in Connecticut include the 11.9-mile Plainville-Southington section, which has a 2030 completion date, and 3.4 miles of trail in New Haven, slated to be completed in late 2026.
Because the greenway is incomplete, it only supports 166 jobs that pay $9 million in earnings, while a completed 81 miles could support 351 to 582 jobs with earnings of $20 million to $33 million in wages, according to the study.
Craig and Kathy Della Penna, the Norwottuck Network and Diane Troderman assisted in raising the $68,000 to fund the report and are assisting Phillip Eng, the interim secretary Massachusetts Department of Transportation, in learning what the return on investment is for a longer trail.
The data in the report will go to the transportation departments in both Massachusetts and Connecticut as well as legislators and others, such as Kate Fox, executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The report details benefits of trail completion, interconnecting segments of the path as well as connecting greenways, and provides examples of businesses along the greenway that are already seeing positive impacts.
The report features case studies with interviews about the economic benefits.
In Hampshire County, the case study focuses on Tandem Bagel’s location in Easthampton, which is inside a refurbished railroad depot on the Manhan Trail segment of the New Haven & Northampton Greenway. Others included in the case studies are New Horizons Bikes in Westfield and Congamond Coffee & Café in Southwick, and two in Connecticut, The Bicycle Cellar in Simsbury and The City Climb Gym in New Haven.
At Tandem, “if the (New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway) were completed, and particularly the missing segments in Southampton and Westfield, Tandem Bagel staff expect to see more local and family bike rides that include a stop at the Easthampton location as well as more long-distance bike groups stopping in.”
A similar report last year, authored by Kittelson & Associates Inc. of Boston and Cambridge Econometrics, stated that completing the 104-mile Massachusetts Central Rail Trail would generate health, wellness and economic benefits of $87 million to more than $200 million annually.
For that trail, 70 miles are already open and 20 miles are in the planning or construction stages, but there are issues, such as some land that would have to be bought from private owners, and expensive repairs to a 1,000-foot tunnel near the Wachusett Reservoir.
Still, most important for Della Penna is the data in the reports that can be provided to and used by decision-makers.
“This will help provide traction to secure funding to finish the rail trail,” he said. “It’s a benefit to Mass and Connecticut DOTs that we asked these questions.”