Many of the central ideas embodied in the RAISE Manchester project harken back to the city’s 2006 Downtown Strategic Development plan and were also articulated more recently in the 2021 Manchester Master Plan.
Originally, the city of Manchester had included plans to build a new roadway connecting Elm Street to Willow Street, immediately south of the Factory on Willow building, called the Gas Street Extension, in the original RAISE grant application. This featured a roughly 70-foot bridge for motor vehicles and pedestrians that would cross over the new section of rail trail that would also be built there. Plans for Gas Street Extension were presented to community members at the public meeting in December 2022, and in subsequent meetings with residents.
The city ultimately decided to remove this roadway and bridge from the grant project due to financial considerations, soil conditions and property impacts, and build only the 0.68 miles of paved rail trail in this area, with connections to Elm Street and Willow Street, known as the Central Manchester Rail Trail. The proposed design does not preclude a future vehicular connection somewhere between Willow and Elm streets if there is available funding and community support.
To learn more about the new rail trail, please click here.
