Group plans greenway between Hanover and West Lebanon

By EMMA ROTH-WELLS

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 10-29-2024 7:00 PM

LEBANON — A grassroots community group is working to create a 3-mile, vehicle-free path connecting West Lebanon and Hanover.

The West Lebanon and Hanover Greenway Community Group, or WaHG, presented the project to the Lebanon Planning Board on Monday night “to keep them in the loop,” said Sue Painter, a West Lebanon member of the group which formed last year.

The proposed path, or greenway, could provide residents with a safer route from Bridge Street in West Lebanon to CVS on South Main Street in Hanover supporters told the board.

Route 10 between the two communities is dangerous for people riding bikes, scooters and walking because of “scary close passes” and the “high speeds” of drivers, said Jennie Chamberlain, of Hanover, another member of the volunteer group, which includes 6 active members.

“I know mountain bikers who will do crazy things in the woods on their bikes, but won’t bike Route 10,” Chamberlain said.

Officials in Lebanon and Hanover have voiced support for the project, but it is still in the early planning stages.

The group has reached out to a Canadian engineering company, Stantec, to conduct a “scoping study”, which would determine the exact route of the greenway. The study is expected to cost around $66,000.

Dartmouth College has pledged $25,000 and the town of Hanover is willing to chip in $13,000 toward the cost of the study the group said. Lebanon is not contributing any money, but officials are helping with the studies’ logistics.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Threats close one Upper Valley school, bring police to others
Kenyon: Questioning authority is no longer part of curriculum at Dartmouth
Upper Valley athletes buck the trend of single sport specialization
On eve of vote, Pence talks politics at Dartmouth
New Hampshire’s interest and dividends tax – and why it’s a hot campaign issue – explained
By the Way: The perils of Christian nationalism

The community group is asking companies, businesses and, eventually, the public to cover the remaining $28,000. The group is seeking to raise the funds by the end of the year.

Friends of Lebanon Recreation, Arts, & Parks is managing the finances for the study.

At Monday’s meeting, the three community members did not seek approval from the Planning Board but rather gave the board information and gathered feedback.

Planning Board Chairman Andrew Faunce voiced concerns about the vagueness of the plan for the new greenway, the inconsistency in elevation throughout the area where the route would be, and the burden of trail maintenance, especially snow removal.

“We’re talking about adding more for the city to manage,” Faunce said.

The group was adamant the benefits the path would bring to the community, outweigh the costs.

“My vision for the future is a cost shift,” Chamberlain said. “If less cars are on the roads, less maintenance needs to be done, and that money can go to maintaining the path.”

In the presentation, the WaHG members mentioned decreased car emissions, health benefits from exercise, recreational opportunities, economic growth, a safe passage for children, and accessibility for residents who do not drive as possible positive impacts of the greenway.

Proximity to rails and greenways can raise property value an average of 3-5% and sometimes even as high as 15%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“It goes to the livability of the community and companies trying to attract people,” said Tim Cox, a West Lebanon member of the group.

The new greenway proposal is under consideration as Lebanon officials are also mulling a limited-access connector road between Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Sachem Village, a Dartmouth graduate student housing community, off Route 10. Current plans for the road, which are still in the initial stages, have it crossing through Indian Ridge conservation area just above Boston Lot, possibly connecting with the WaHG path.

Elsewhere in the city, Lebanon currently has the Mascoma River Greenway, a four-mile path on a former railway that stretches from the Northern Rail Trail at Spencer Street in the downtown to Seminary Hill in West Lebanon.

More information on the proposed WHaG path is online at: wahgtrail.org/.

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.