The state attorney general’s office is looking into the blocked Northern Rail Trail in Andover where a landowner placed heavy concrete barriers in the path because he says his ability to use it has been thwarted.
Gov. Ayotte said she hopes the trail will be reopened soon.
“Rail trail access is important for people,” Ayotte said during a press conference Wednesday. “I’m glad the attorney general is looking into our, essentially, right-of-way there and making sure we reinforce the right-of-way … making sure all the legal prerequisites are there. But I think we should move forward expeditiously and get this resolved.”
The former Boston & Maine rail corridor was bought by the state in 1995 and has been a well-used biking and hiking trail for many years. Landowner Lenny Caron blocked both ends of a mile-long section with concrete Jersey barriers late last month because he says officials won’t let him use the trail to get equipment to some parcels of his land that have no other access.
He said he researched the deed and believes he has the rights to the land, not the state.
The only way for users of the Northern Rail Trail to bypass the blockage at the moment is to go onto Route 4. A sign placed by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which oversees rail trails, says “the closure may remain in place for some time.”
Ayotte acknowledged the public’s concern.
“Let’s face it, it has been there for a while, so you think every property owner would understand this is an existing rail trail that people use,” she said.
The Northern Rail Trail runs 59 miles from Boscawen to Lebanon on the corridor formerly used by the Boston and Maine Railroad. It connects to the Merrimack River Greenway trail, which is under development in Concord.
In a Tuesday interview with the Monitor, Caron said the dispute was triggered by changes to the Keniston Bridge, a historic covered bridge in town, which blocked access for tall, heavy equipment. Caron had used the bridge to reach a gravel pit on his property and once access was cut off, he started using the rail trail instead. He was told he couldn’t do that either because heavy machinery isn’t allowed on the rail trail. He claims old deeds found that the state “had no rights to the land,” which led to him blocking off the area.
Disputes over access to abandoned rail corridors during the development of rail trails are not unusual, but it’s rare for an existing trail to be blocked by a dispute.
New Hampshire has more than 330 miles of public trails either built or in development on former railbeds, according to state documents.
