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Feb. 21, 2017 -- A tunnel for bicyclists and pedestrians is under construction near Woodmont Road and King Street. The $4.4 million project is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

(Mary Serreze photo)

NORTHAMPTON -- Construction will resume this spring on a cast concrete tunnel that will convey bicyclists and pedestrians beneath the railroad tracks that parallel King Street, a state official said this week.

The Northampton Pedestrian/Bicycle Underpass Project is one component of the larger Knowledge Corridor-Restore Vermonter Project, Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman Patrick Marvin said in an email. Federal stimulus money for the rail upgrade in Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts was awarded in 2010.

The underpass project is due to be completed by the end of 2017. Marvin noted that construction, which began in the fall of 2016, had to be staged so as to avoid interruptions to daily rail service.

The $4.4 million project, funded by MassDOT, will connect two halves of a popular rail trail network that stretches from Williamsburg to Belchertown.

The underpass will connect the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which currently terminates at Bradford Street on the east side of the railroad, with existing bike paths to the north and south on the west side of the railroad.



As it is, travelers often climb over the tracks with their bicycles and slip through a hole in the fence, even though it's against the law and considered trespassing. An official detour directs walkers and riders south on Market Street, to the North Street railroad underpass and then north again on King Street.

The tracks are actively used for Amtrak Vermonter passenger service and by PanAm freight railways.

Northern Construction Service of Palmer is building the underpass.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com