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CAROL LOLLIS

Start of bike path off Woodmont in Northampton. The city hopes investing $5 million on two projects will make commuting safer for area cyclists.

NORTHAMPTON - Work is under way on two city bike path projects that cost about $5 million - projects that city officials hope ultimately will make it possible for people to travel from community to community via bike paths.

The work is the newest phase of a decade-long project to make commuting on bicycle easier and safer. Last year, workers built a path from the end of the Norwottuck Trail on Damon Road to Woodmont Street, a short street off North Street.

This year, two separate projects have been launched - both of which are being funded with a combination of state and federal dollars, according to Wayne Feiden, the city's director of planning and development.

One of the projects, which began in April, extends the city's longtime, popular bike path from its entrance at State Street, forging a path between Church Street and Acme Automotive Center at 220 King St., across King Street, and past the location of the former Wendy's along the railroad tracks all the way downtown.

The path will include two bridges - one over North Street and another over Main Street - and will then hook up with the Nagle Walkway alongside the Depot Restaurant, cut over Pleasant Street, continuing along the Nagle Walkway and across the Hampton Avenue parking lot, across Old South Street to end at the Round House lot.

Feiden said the bridge work on that path is about as much work in terms of time and money as the rest of the project.

Second project

The second project, which is also under way, goes from the Round House parking lot, passing Veterans Field and going behind the Smith College physical plant to wind up at the intersection of Earle and Grove streets.

The projects are distinct in that they have different contracts with different builders, said Feiden, but once complete, they will connect seamlessly.

Feiden said the new construction will feature a completely redesigned intersection at Earle and Grove streets. He said he hopes the additions will make commuting through Northampton much easier.

"When suddenly all the neighborhoods in town are close to work or close to shopping, people are going to use it more," he said. "When trails are done next year the majority of the neighborhoods will be within one mile of a bike path."

Still a question mark is a connection between the path that ends at Woodmont and the other project. Department of Public Works Director Ned Huntley said that is "the missing link."

Eventually, the plan is to build a tunnel under the railroad tracks to hook that path up with the other project under way, but until headway is made on that, the paths will remain unconnected. Feiden said that engineering plans have been drawn up for the tunnel under the railroad tracks. Permission from the railroad company is still needed.

Feiden said the projects don't yet have an official timeline, but he expects them to be complete within two years. Charlie Derby of Northampton said it's "wonderful to extend the bike path, but they should fix the ones they already have," as he carried a repaired flat he said was punctured by shards of glass working their way to the surface on the Norwottuck Rail Trail.

Jacqueline Dauphinais of Northampton said she rides from Florence downtown and to Amherst, and the hardest part is crossing over the railroad tracks from the city bike path to the state trail. She looks forward to an underpass.

Down the road, Feiden said, the goal will be to connect the Northampton path from the Earle/Grove street intersection to the path in Easthampton on Ferry Street. That project is expected to cost about $3.1 million.

"We're looking for the money for that," said Feiden.