Moose Path Trail Corridor Management Plan North Country Scenic Byways Council Draft for Public Hearing on August 25, 2015 Prepared by the North Country Council in partnership with the North Country Scenic Byways Council With funding from the Federal Highway Administration through the National Scenic Byways Program Administered by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation The preparation of this plan has been financed in part through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 The Path…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 Support…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 Byway Resources………………………………………………………………………………………..…… 13 Table 1. Resources that Support the Intrinsic Qualities of the Byway………………. 14 Table 2. Land Use and Major Conservation Areas Along Moose Path Trail………… 18 Table 3. Summary of Land Use Regulations and Plans………...……………………………. 22 Table 4. Traffic Volume Trends………………………………………..………………………………. 29 Implementation Strategy………………………………………………………………………………... 35 Table 5 Goals and Implementation Matrix for the Moose Path Trail…………..…… 39 The following components of the plan can be downloaded from www.NCCouncil.org on the North Country Scenic Byways page: Appendix A Inventory Maps Appendix B Land Use Maps Appendix C Traffic Maps Photo credits: Tara Bamford, North Country Council Moose Path Trail Introduction Residents and visitors to New Hampshire’s North Country are fortunate to be able to enjoy two national Scenic Byways - the Connecticut River Byway and White Mountain Trail (includes Kancamagus Highway) - and four state Scenic Byways - River Heritage Trail, Presidential Range Trail, Woodland Heritage Trail, and Moose Path Trail. This plan examines resources, land use and traffic safety on the Moose Path and makes recommendations for continued stewardship of the intrinsic values of this state Scenic Byway. The Moose Path Trail was formally designated in 1994 by the NH Scenic & Cultural Byways Council. The original route is shown in green in the map to the right. At that time, the newly created national Scenic Byways program encouraged recognition of important scenic and cultural corridors via state and possible national byway designation. The national program also provided incentives for designated byways via a national Scenic Byways funding program that funded enhancements of byway facilities for the benefit of the byway users. In the North Country, both the Kancamagus-White Mountain Trail and Connecticut River Byway received national designation and funding for important visitor amenities. As part of the state and national designation process, North Country Council, the regional planning commission serving the northern third of New Hampshire, created a North Country Scenic Byways Council, comprised of representation from byway interests around the region. The purpose of this Council was management of the many designated byways in the region. The Council produced a guidebook to the five North Country Scenic Byways called “Northern Journeys” and participated in planning and obtaining funding for visitor amenities on the White Mountain Trail. While there was much interest in obtaining funding for potential improvements to byways in an era of extremely limited roadway improvement funding – New Hampshire saw an average of 1 $500,000 per year in Scenic Byway program funds from 1992-2012 Shifted focus of the program from a non-traditional - there was little attention to planning and management activities highway funding program to a recognized brand. related to designated byways in New Hampshire. In fact, a corridor Several of those changes impact the Moose Path Trail. Specifically, management plan had only been developed for one of the five the NH Scenic & Cultural Byways Council communicated the byways in the North Country region - the White Mountain Trail. following requirements to North Country Council in early 2014: (The Connecticut River Byway lies partially within the North Country Region and has also had a Corridor Management Plan A Corridor Advisory Committee is appointed, an annual which is overseen by the Connecticut River Byway Council.) meeting is held and officers are elected. Per the adopted Recognizing the importance of scenic byways to the region and the Rules of Procedure, all designated byways must have a designated body that at a minimum: many local community goals that can be furthered with scenic o Has representation from all of the communities and byway stewardship, the North Country Scenic Byways Council interests along the designated byway. began working with North Country Council and NHDOT to obtain o Meets at least annually to discuss the byway and funding for corridor management plans for the other four North review current and future plans. Country Scenic Byways in 2010. Over several years, funding was o Has a designated point of contact that has been arranged to develop corridor management plans for all four state identified to the NH State Scenic Byways Coordinator. Scenic Byways in the North Country. It is the intent of the NH Scenic & Cultural Byways Council This plan represents the efforts on 1 of those 4 corridors, and will that these advisory committees are responsible for the be the first Corridor Management Plan developed for the byway in development, adoption; revision and implementation of the 21 year history of the Moose Path Trail. adopted corridor management plans for the designated corridors, and will serve as the central point of The NH Scenic Byways program has also changed over the last 22+ communication for the designated corridors to all years. The years 2010-2014 saw significant changes to the interested parties regarding the designated byway. program. During that period, the NH Scenic & Cultural Byways Corridor Management Plans for each of the identified Program has: byways are adopted and forwarded to the NH Scenic & Cultural Byways Program Coordinator. While there are Formally adopted bylaws and rules of procedure. minimum requirements for corridor management plans Developed the first required biennial report on the identified in the Rules of Procedure, the LPA (Local Public program for the governor and legislature. Agency) requirements that come with the source of Identified minimum requirements for designated byways. funding used to complete this plan exceed the minimum Developed a formal process for de-designation of requirements. designated byways per the governing state statutes. 2 These requirements were imposed as the North Country Scenic The North Country Scenic Byways Council has recommended Byways Council had not met in 2012 or 2013 and the former changes to the existing byway due to the evolving understanding make-up of the Council focused only on the White Mountain Trail. and appreciation these designated byways have in the North In addition, a corridor management plan had never been Country and beyond. These changes are addressed throughout developed for this corridor. As a result of the federal Scenic the plan. Byway award – North Country Council has re-instituted the North Country Scenic Byways Council with new membership, and has completed this Corridor Management Plan. 3 Moose Path Trail The Trail Proposed Route This corridor management plan proposes that two segments be eliminated from the Moose Path Trail. These changes are shown on the map to the right. The first segment proposed for elimination is US 3 from Colebrook to Pittsburg. This highway is part of the Connecticut River Byway. Inclusion in the Moose Path Trail as well does not serve any purpose. Instead, it may only serve to cause confusion for the visitor. The second proposed change is elimination of the portion of US 2 from the intersection with NH 16 by the Gorham town common east to the Maine state line. This highway segment is proposed to be changed to the Presidential Range Trail. The main trunk of the Moose Path Trail, shown in blue, would then be the 93 miles from the US 2/NH 16 intersection by the Gorham town common, west through downtown Gorham, north on NH 16 through Berlin, Milan, Dummer, and Cambridge to Errol, west on NH 26 through Millsfield and Dixville to Colebrook, north on US 3 a short distance to NH 145, then north on NH 145 through Stewartstown and Clarksville to Pittsburg, and north on US 3 to the Canadian border. In addition, the two highway segments connecting Errol to Maine are proposed to be retained as gateways to the Moose Path for visitors from Maine. These are NH 26 for 8.5 miles south of Umbagog Lake southeast through Errol and Cambridge to the Maine state line, and NH 16 for 9 miles north of Umbagog Lake northeast through Errol and Wentworth’s Location to the Maine state line. 4 Description The Moose Path Trail begins at the Gorham town common at the Greeting visitors at the corner of intersection of US 2/NH 16. The common area has an information kiosk the common facing the intersection with panels displaying local history, an information booth, playground, at the start of this byway is this and bandstand. moose carving, a fitting symbol of this wildlife-themed byway. Adjacent to the common is the railroad museum in the Gorham Grand Trunk Railroad depot. There is plenty of parking at the common and one block away on Exchange Street, providing visitors access to Gorham’s downtown via sidewalks on both sides of the road. The downtown offers a variety of visitor services, including churches, stores, lodging, restaurants, gas and banks. US 2/NH 16 is also a shared ATV route. 5 The access to Moose Brook State Park is just one mile off of the byway on US 2 west. Heading north toward Berlin NH 16 is a commercial area with two small accesses to the Androscoggin River on the right. There is an information kiosk as one enters downtown Berlin. Downtown Berlin offers plenty of parking and a walkable downtown with sidewalks and parks.