Derry Rail Trail Alliance                              

News:

Save the Date: Rail Trail Grand Opening, Saturday, June 2, 2012!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

RAINOUT: We're calling it for today.

Rain Date: Sunday, May 6, 2012.

Meet us behind the Derry Depot between 9AM and 10AM Sunday morning. Bring gloves, rakes, and lots of energy as we will be focusing on preparing the trail for our big grand opening. May 6th is also the day a crew of Pinkerton students will be helping to paint the fence along Lover's Leap.

November 22, 2011

Derry Rail Trail is OPEN!

November 13, 2011

Phase 2 Construction Nearly Complete!

The pavement is down and the trail work is nearly complete. Our next DRTA meeting will be Wednesday, December 7 from 7PM-9PM in room 207 (second floor) Derry Municipal Center. If you'd like to get involved in the Derry Rail Trail, come on by.

Here's a YouTube tour of the trail:

Windham to Bowers Road

Bowers Road to Kendall Pond Road

Kendall Pond Road to the Derry Depot

September 9, 2011

Phase 2 Construction Starts Soon!

The DRTA is pleased to announce that the phase 2 construction of the Derry Rail Trail (Bower's Road to Windham) is set to begin September 19th and should be completed by mid November.

American Excavating will be working on the trail soon and we expect that there will be times that this section of the trail will be closed. Please be patient during construction and we hope you will enjoy the finished trail!!!

We will announce the official opening of the trail as soon as we have that scheduled.

Meanwhile, come visit us at Derryfest on Saturday, September 17th where there will be the Move-a-Thon located behind the Derry Depot.

We would like to thank the Derry Town Council, Derry Department of Public Works, Derry Conservation Commission, Edward N. Herbert Associates, Alexander Eastman Foundation, Bike Belong Coalition, Granite State Wheelmen, Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire, Windham Rail Trail Alliance, Southern New Hampshire Rail Trail Alliance, Concord Orthopedics, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, State of New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development Recreation Trails Program, Derry Medical Center, New England Grassroots Environmental Fund, Spindel Eye Associates, Granite State GI Consultants, Associated Radiologists P.A., Derry Rotary Club, Over the Rainbow Preschool, Derry Sports and Rehab, Gym-Ken Gymnastics, Surgical Associates of Southern New Hampshire, Taylor Country Day School, Aesthetic & Vein Center, Dispatch Communications, Pathology Specialists of New England, and the many individual supporters who have contributed to this project.

Best Regards,

DRTA Board of Directors

June, 2011

Windham Flat 'n Fast 5K, Sunday June 12

The DRTA is proud to sponsor this race--come out and cheer the runners on!

DRTA Meeting

The next board meeting will be at Tuesday, June 21st from 7:30PM-9:30PM in room 207 of the Derry Municipal Center.

May 3, 2011
Project Status

The Derry Town Council has approved Phase II moving forward. One way or another the paving will be done in 2011!

Trail Cleanup with the Derry Pathfinders

Come out and help with the brush cleanup on Saturday, November 13, 2010 starting at 8AM at Bower's Road. The Pathfinders are coming out to clean up the unpaved section of the trail from Bower's Road to Windham. There's lots of brush to be cleared and plenty of pick-up work so get some fresh air and great exercise!

September 18, 2010

Thanks to everyone who visited us at Derryfest this year. Everyone had a really great time at the Move-A-Thon!!!


May 4, 2010

The SNHRTA TE Grant Application Has Been Awarded!

We have received word that the $1.272M SNHRTA TE Grant Application has been approved. What this means for the DRTA is an additional $400K to complete phase 2 and rebuild the Bower's Road crossing! Many, Many Thanks to everyone involved. Countless hours were spent putting this application together and coordinating support for the project. More news coming as we finalize the details but stay tuned!!!

Click Here for the SNHRTA Grant Award Press Release

April 19, 2010

The DRTA would like to thank everyone who helped with the trail cleanup!

It was really great to see so many come out and help in the rain.

April 8, 2010

The DRTA would like to welcome Mary Watson to the board!

We are very happy to have Mary join the project. She has already held a Trike-a-Thon on the trail and her enthusiasm is wonderful!

March 30, 2010

DRTA Participating in the Derry Spring Cleanup day, Saturday, April 17th

We will be on the trail for Spring Cleaning, Saturday, April 17th from 9AM to Noon. Meet us behind the Depot Steakhouse at 8:45AM. Ample parking is available in the lot on Abbot Court which is the street on the other side of the building next to the Steakhouse to the West. We will be cleaning up trash, bottles and cans. Bring a pair of gloves and the town will supply the trash bags.

December 1, 2009

Derry Town Council Check Presentation

The Derry Rail Trail Alliance presents the Derry Town Council with a check for $35,000.00 for the phase one project construction. Our fundraising continues as we work to have phase two ready for bid in the spring!

October 24, 2009

Greater Derry Community Trike-A-Thon

Local children and their families will participate this fall in Derry’s first charity Trike-A-Thon! 100% of the money participants collect will go directly to local families in need. The Trike-A-Thon is currently looking for riders, volunteers and community sponsors.

On October 24th, some of Derry’s youngest community members will don their bicycle helmets and climb aboard their tricycles to help raise money for local families in need. They will be participating in the first ever Greater Derry Community Trike-A-Thon! The Greater Derry Community Trike-A-Thon will “ride” on October 24th from 10:00 until 12 noon, (or until the kids get tired, whichever comes first). The ride will take place on the paved portion of the Derry Rail Trail between South Ave. and Bowers Road. Participants may complete all or part of the route depending on their age and ability level.

Mary Watson, executive director of the Greater Derry Community Trike-A-Thon, organized the event as a way of giving back to the community. “Our family went through a rough patch earlier this year when our son was born almost three months premature. We were fortunate enough to have family we could lean on for financial support, and friends and neighbors who prayed for us; but many people in our community are not so fortunate. The money we raise during this event will go directly to help those families in need.”

To sign up to ride, volunteer, make a donation or nominate a family in need, please contact Mary Watson at derrytrike@gmail.com or visit http://sites.google.com/site/derrytrikeathon. The Greater Derry Community Trike-A-Thon has been generously sponsored by the Sylvan Learning Center in Hampstead.

September 19, 2009

Thank you to DerryFest!

The DRTA would like to thank everyone who stopped by and supported us at DerryFest. A big congratulations to Kirk Hutcheon of Derry for winning the $25 gift certificate we had in our raffle. We are very close to our goal and appreciate all the support.

July, 2009

Pavement is down!!!

We have been out on the new section of the trail during off hours and I am extremely excited to see people out on the trail already!!! Thank you to everyone for supporting our project and it's so nice to see people out on the trail enjoying the new construction!!!

Stay posted as we are still hard at work to complete the trail as soon as possible--it's not easy raising this type of money in this economy but the Derry Rail Trail Alliance is dedicated to this goal.

June 22, 2009 to July 31, 2009

Phase 1 Construction Has Begun!!!

Work has begn on the Kendall Pond Road to Bowers Road section of the Derry Rail Trail. We expect this work to be completed by the end of July. The town has asked that everyone stay off of this section during construction.

We are still raising money to complete the trail all the way to Windham.

June 6, 2009 10AM-2PM Hood Park

National Trails Day Celebration!
Big thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting us--we had a lot of fun!

May 19, 2009

Town Council Approves Phase 1
We are moving forward with construction on phase 1 (Kendall Pond to Bowers Road) immediately and we will be putting phase 2 out to bid as soon as we get the paperwork in order!!! We're very excited to see this project get started!!!

May 12, 2009

DRTA Receives $10,000 Bikes Belong Grant!
The Derry Rail Trail Alliance has received a $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong!

April 18, 2009

DRTA at Derry Clean-up Day
Many thanks to everyone who came out for the trail cleanup. We managed to pick up trash along the entire path from the Depot all the way to Windham. The fence at Lover's Leap has some new paint and the brush got piled up for the town pickup. Please send an email to info@derryrailtrail.org if you have any questions.

April 10, 2009

DRTA Receives RTP Grant from DRED!
The State of New Hampshire's Department of Resources and Economic Development, Division of Parks and Recreation, Bureau of Trails has awarded the DRTA a $25,000 Recreational Trails Program Grant!

April 4, 2009

DRTA at Our Town Our Future
The DRTA had two representatives at this important planning meeting. We will be back on April 29th for the follow-up session.

March 30, 2009

DRTA receives grant from the GSW
The Granite State Wheelmen has awarded the DRTA one of their 5 $1,000 Rail Trail Grants. Stay tuned for more information!

January 17, 2009

DRTA Gearing up for Spring!
Yes, it's the dead of Winter but we're hard at work planning for Spring. If you are interested in helping us out with our Spring activities, please contact us at info@derryrailtrail.org to find out what you can do to help out. For starters, we will be participating in the town cleanup day on April 18th and we can use your help.
December 31, 2008

DRTA Under Attack
It's almost 2009 and the DRTA is under attack by Brian Chirichiello, District #4 Councilor on his blog. He's rattling the sword again about taking back the $225K grant the town council voted in just last March. I am asking the silent majority in favor of this project to please speak up and support us publicly by writing to the councilors, papers, emails, blogs, whatever forum you're comfortable with. We have worked too hard and come too far to have this project derailed at this point.
The mere suggestion that the DRTA in any way has gone after tax money to fund this project is a kick in the face to our board of directors who have worked tirelessly for over a year on this project. None of our money has come from taxes. AND we have fought through miles of paperwork to establish our 501(c)(3) so that every penny donated is tax deductible. I cannot repeat this enough--YOUR support has driven this organization to where we are today and we very much appreciate your support. Please let your voice be heard.
Erich Whitney
President, DRTA

December 23, 2008

Holiday Bike Raffle
A Very Merry Christmas and Congratulations to Jennifer Leonard of Derry for winning the Adult Giant Sedona Comfort/Cruiser Bike! We would like to thank everyone for your contributions and overwhelming support for the project. Stay tuned for more news soon!

October 4, 2008

Thanks to the Daleys for hosting the first DRTA Wine Tasting Fundraiser! We raised over $2300 and enjoyed a relaxing evening with great food and wine.

September 20, 2008

Congratulations to James Gearing of Derry for winning the DRTA/Benson's Bike Raffle at DerryFest! We will be holding other fundraising events with prizes so stay tuned!

September 2, 2008

Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare has made a $5000 challenge grant! They will make their donation when we reach our goal so keep those contributions coming!

September 1, 2008

We have received our official Letter of Determination for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. The effective date is October 31, 2007. Please use our EIN 26-1251090 when filing your tax return to receive the tax deduction on your contribution and thank you again!

July 28, 2008

The New England Grassroots Environmental Fund has approved a $1,500 grant to the DRTA. Thank you!

We have other grant applications still outstanding, stay tuned!

June 11, 2008

The Alexander Eastman Foundation has approved a $25,000 grant to the DRTA. We are very grateful for this award.

June 7, 2008

National Trails Day

The DRTA cleaned up from 2PM to 4PM. It was hot but a dedicated few helped out--Thank You!!!

June 1, 2008

Thanks to the Windham Rail Trail Alliance for their support and a wonderful race!

March 2008

- 3/4 - Hooray!!! The Town Council voted to provide $225,000 towards trail construction!!! However, they attached a condition to the funding that DRTA must quickly raise the remaining money needed to complete the trail (another $150,000) before we can get the town money!!! So please send a donation today!!!

A Big THANK YOU to all the councilors who voted for this project - the vote was 6 in favor - 1 against!!!

February 2008

- 2/19 - No action taken on funding - continued to March 4th TC meeting.
- Town Council makes a motion to provide $225,000 towards Rail Trail Project!!
- Town Council schedules one more Public Hearing on Feb 19th on Rail Trail.

January 2008

- Engineering Started!!!
- We have applied for a NH Trails Grant and we're looking for other funding opportunities & in-kind services to help us reach our goal. Please contact us if you can help!

December 4, 2007
Town Council  Meeting

October 31, 2007
October 28, 2007
- We elected our Board of Directors, click here