Town Manager Bill Ingersoll reported to the Town Council on Monday that the Chestertown Rail-Trail has bustled with activity since the asphalt was put down. He also said the Wifi for Fountain Park was ready to go live.
“The Rail-Trail actually went from having slow progress to being physically completed,” Ingersoll said. “The asphalt was done way, way before I thought it would be–in a great fashion, people are walking it already… I’m getting emails from people who are walking it and discovering it.”
“It’s a real success story,” Ingersoll said. He said he brought it up at Monday’s meeting because Gov. Martin O’Malley broke ground for the project two years ago at the Tea Party celebrations and the Mayor and Council could consider inviting O’Malley back for a ribbon cutting.
Councilman Marty Stetson, an avid cyclist, has biked and walked the trail and says there is no trail with a smoother surface than the Rail-Trail.
Ingersoll said there was a complaint about motorcycle activity. He said there was still work to be done, “but there seems to be the kind of excitement we thought we would have.”
Town WiFi ready to go live
Chestertown WiFi is almost live, Ingersoll said. He suggested a Skype ribbon cutting with the Gov. O’Malley from Fountain Park when the WiFi is turned on.
“If not, we’ll just turn it on,” Ingersoll said.
The WiFi was made possible with a $30,000 Maryland Community Legacy Grant.
Jamie says
Love the trail!! Nice addition to the town.
Edward E. Maxcy says
I am very excited for our community finally to have a walking/biking path. I sincerely hope that signage for its use is in place quickly — ideally before Tea Party Saturday — before there is an accident! There should be no motorized vehicles (other than for use by handicapped individuals or perhaps a “tourist shuttle to explore the path on weekends) ; automobile and other vehicles should have “right of way” at all crossings; and the path should be closed from dusk to dawn. I am not so worried, even if perhaps I should, about late night misbehavior on or near the path, but for the individual (child or adult) who is injured after dark, say in the “cut” on the College campus and not discovered until daylight the next day. I am confident that the Chestertown Police will put the path on its regular patrol schedules, but we know they cannot focus their evening patrols solely on this one long facility. Thank you to everyone who has worked to make this path a reality; it will be enjoyed by generations to come and be a considerable asset to our community if we start immedicately to use it appropriately.
Bobby says
As a former resident of Chestertown and current resident of Easton, I really enjoy using Easton’s 2.5 mile Rail-to-Trail. At one point I lived two homes away and used it on a daily basis. Now, its more once every two weeks. This is a great thing for Chestertown and I can’t wait to use it. However, I believe crosswalk’s should be at all road crossings and vehicles should yield to the pedestrians. There are many road crossing on the Easton Rail-to-Trail. I still stop when vehicles are nearing the crossing but 95% of the time they will stop and allow me to cross. It also helps with slowing the traffic down. However I do believe a bridge crossing over the bypass would be more suitable than a crosswalk.