A South Deerfield to Greenfield Bike Path: Can It Work?

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The path for bikes along the newly resurfaced Routes 5&10 is best between Yankee Candle and Magic Wings, but after that gets too narrow to safely ride.
The path for bikes along the newly resurfaced Routes 5&10 is best between Yankee Candle and Magic Wings, but after that gets too narrow to safely ride.

What if there was a safe and easy route to ride a bicycle between South Deerfield and Greenfield?  I think a lot of people would ride this route.

I have a dream that we could create such a bike path, and provide not only a tourist attractor, but an alternative method of transportation between these two towns

The state recently resurfaced Route 5 between Yankee Candle and Magic Wings, and they even created double-sided lines on the wider sections of Route 5 to mark a space wide enough for bikes.

But I’d like to create a really safe path, where an even wider area is paved and a safety barrier existo keep the cars away from the bikes.

Here the median is just too narrow to safely ride along Route 5 in South Deerfield.2
Here the median is just too narrow to safely ride along Route 5 in South Deerfield.

After you pass Magic Wings, the road’s median becomes too narrow and the sight lines are not that good.  A few weeks ago, a bike rider was killed further up Route 5, at the dip just past Richardson’s Candy.  This is the hardest challenge of this idea–getting the land from the sides of the road wide enough to allow bikes to safely travel in two directions.

But much of the land that Route 5 travels through is owned by Deerfield Academy. This is where I am hoping we might be able to create a path that’s just off Route 5. What are the chances of  an idea like this becoming reality?  I have spoken with Deerfield’s Town Manager, Kayce Warren, and am hoping to speak with many more people and to try and interest Deerfield Academy in getting involved.  It’s an idea in its infancy, but I bet I could get a lot of other people to back this idea if we can get the word out. Leave a comment if you think this idea is worth pursuing.