Seacoast Greenway Rail Trail, North Hampton – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway (NHSG) transforms an abandoned railroad corridor into a multi-use trail that connects Portsmouth, North Hampton, Greenland, and Rye, NH. This railroad corridor had been abandoned for several years, and it took a great deal of planning, investigating, and designing to open it for active transportation use. The NHSGA and RPC were involved throughout the project. MJ, who contracted directly with the NHDOT, assisted GPI with environmental permitting. GPI brought TEC in to assist with independent reviews and local public outreach. GPI and NHDOT coordinated with the municipalities throughout the design process and sought their input. The first section of the NHSG opened officially on September 4, 2024, and stretches from the North Hampton/Hampton town line to Barberry Lane in Portsmouth, NH.
GPI took unique approaches to surveying the existing corridor, evaluating the existing conditions, and proposing design solutions to make this a safe, sustainable, beautiful trail for everyone to enjoy. Early in the project, it was clear that the southern portion of the trail required much more investigation and design due to frequent flooding. NHDOT agreed to GPI’s proposal to split the project into two parts, allowing the majority of the trail to be completed much faster. GPI implemented innovative survey methods to accelerate the design schedule and save money while maintaining high-quality data. The resulting detailed base map addressed a later challenge where an abutter had encroached on the property to create access to an adjacent property. This required creative trail design to maintain the driveway without impacting the trail. Beavers presented one of the more interesting challenges to the project, as their impact was widespread and required long-term solutions. Working with Beaver Solutions, LLC, GPI designed a culvert protection fence that deters beaver activity in sensitive areas.