Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Study Approach ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Study Limitations ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 2 Study Area ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Context ................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Study Corridor ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Recreation & Tourism Job Access ............................................................................................................................... 5 3 Existing Trail Conditions .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 4 Existing Rail Conditions ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1 Freight Rail Services...................................................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 Scenic Rail Services ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 5 Study Alternatives ................................................................................................................................................................... 17 5.1 Alternative A: No Build ................................................................................................................................................ 17 5.2 Alternative B: Rail-with-Trail ...................................................................................................................................... 17 5.3 Alternative C: Rail-to-Trail .......................................................................................................................................... 23 5.4 Additional Considerations ......................................................................................................................................... 25 6 Local Resident Opinion ......................................................................................................................................................... 30 6.1 Mail-Back Survey Responses ..................................................................................................................................... 30 6.2 Online Survey Responses ........................................................................................................................................... 30 6.3 Stakeholder Interviews................................................................................................................................................ 30 6.4 Adjacent Property Owner Concerns ...................................................................................................................... 31 6.5 Safety & Security ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 7 Usage Estimates ....................................................................................................................................................................... 33 7.1 Bicycle & Pedestrian Trip Activity ............................................................................................................................ 33 7.2 Freight Railroad Usage ................................................................................................................................................ 41 7.3 Scenic Railroad Usage .................................................................................................................................................. 42 8 Spending Estimates ................................................................................................................................................................ 46 8.1 Trail-related Spending ................................................................................................................................................. 46 8.2 Scenic Rail-related Spending .................................................................................................................................... 48 9 Analysis Framework ................................................................................................................................................................ 50 9.1 Reliability and Sensitivity Analyses ......................................................................................................................... 50 9.2 Inflation, Constant Dollars, & Discounting ........................................................................................................... 50 City of Laconia | Economic Study of the Proposed Rail-Trail from Franklin to Weirs Beach i 9.3 Analysis Periods & Residual Values ......................................................................................................................... 50 9.4 Transfer Payments ........................................................................................................................................................ 51 9.5 Alternatives and Independent Utility .................................................................................................................... 52 10 Estimated Costs ........................................................................................................................................................................ 53 10.1 Capital Costs .................................................................................................................................................................... 53 10.2 Maintenance Costs ....................................................................................................................................................... 55 10.3 Insurance Costs .............................................................................................................................................................. 57 10.4 Environmental Costs .................................................................................................................................................... 58 10.5 Economic Costs .............................................................................................................................................................. 59 10.6 Total Quantitative Costs ............................................................................................................................................. 62 10.7 Qualitative Costs ............................................................................................................................................................ 63 11 Estimated Benefits .................................................................................................................................................................. 64 11.1 Mobility Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................ 64 11.2 Health Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................... 66 11.3 Safety Benefits ................................................................................................................................................................ 68 11.4 Residual Value ................................................................................................................................................................ 70 11.5 Total Quantitative Benefits ........................................................................................................................................ 70 11.6 Qualitative Benefits ...................................................................................................................................................... 71 12 Analysis Results ........................................................................................................................................................................ 74 Appendix A – Mail-back Survey Instrument ............................................................................................................................ 81 Appendix B – Mail-back Survey