New Hampshire Trails Bureau has recently informed the Friends of the Northern Rail Trail (FNRT) Merrimack that it has been awarded a grant of $30,000 to extend the resurfacing of the Northern Rail Trail south from Gerrish Depot towards Concord and Boscawen. This decision is subject to normal administrative reviews. Final approval is expected in time for the work to be done by late summer. This grant is conditioned on FNRT’s raising matching funds of $7,500.
With this grant, FNRT has launched a campaign to raise the final $60,000 needed to complete the Trail. Combined with existing funds in hand, the new grant from Trails Bureau will allow FNRT to build to Depot Street in the center of Boscawen. The additional $60,000 will be used to build the final section of trail from Depot Street to the Hannah Dustin Park and Ride at Exit 17 from I-93, near the Boscawen-Concord town line.
FNRT’s sister organization, FNRT Grafton, has been informed that it has been granted $15,000 to finish laying stone dust on the last mile of trail in Merrimack County between the Danbury Town Garage and the Grafton County line. Work on this is also planned for this summer. FNRT Merrimack has undertaken to raise the necessary matching funds of $3,750.