SOUTHAMPTON — After a 20-year pursuit, the town purchased a right-of-way from Pioneer Valley Railroad Co. for $340,000 for use as a rail trail.

Through a process known as railbanking, a condition that allows a railroad agency to retain the right to re-energize a portion of the line in the event it needs it for future use, the town has acquired 3.5-mile defunct rail bed from Pioneer Valley Railroad Co. to develop the Greenway bicycle/pedestrian path, which will connect with the Manhan Rail Trail in Easthampton, said Town Administrator Ed Gibson. The purchase of the rail bed was funded by a MassTrails grant and Community Preservation Act funds.

“They had been working on this even before I got here five years ago. So it’s taken a while to put everything together to make it happen — sometimes I really wondered if it would ever happen — but we’re thrilled that that day finally came,” Gibson said.

The rail line was originally completed in 1863 and connected New Haven to Northampton and other cities in New England. The Pioneer Valley Railroad Co. has not used the line since the early 1990s.

The proposed Southampton Greenway will run from Coleman Road on the border of Easthampton to College Highway (Route 10) by Sheldon’s Ice Cream. It follows a path identified in the state Bicycle Transportation Plan, which was prepared in September 2008. Eventually, the plan is to have the Southampton Greenway become a part of the Connecticut Valley Corridor.

Within the next few weeks, Gibson anticipates selecting an engineering firm that the town will work with to create a design for the rail trail. Residents approved the transfer of $100,000 from Community Preservation Act surcharges at the Dec. 13 special Town Meeting for the town’s local share of a MassTrails grant for the design process.

Once the design process begins, the town will reach out to abutters and residents for input on the design.

Gibson said it will take between three and five years to get accepted into the state Department of Transportation’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and enable construction of that section of the trail. In the past, the town was accepted into the program and had set aside $6 million in funding for the construction. With construction materials continuing to rise, Gibson said he imagines the project’s cost will also see an increase.

The town also will be charting out how it will connect to the Columbia Greenway Trail in Westfield.

“Our goal is to be able to do this either entirely through the TIP or with the majority funded through the TIP and some additional grant funding,” he said. “We’re thrilled to get to this point.”

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>