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Harwick-Chatham Rail Trail

Photos by Doug Mink on August 30, 1999
Harwich Rotary on the Cape Cod Rail Trail
I expected to have to search for the new Harwich bikepath, but there, in the middle of the woods, was a bicycle rotary (traffic circle to those outside of New England), with bike racks and picnic tables scattered around the interior.
Start of Harwich Bike Path
There are signs (rare on Massachusetts bikepaths) where each path leaves the rotary telling where that path goes. Distances would be useful, but you can't have everything. Note that the paths have center stripes, a feature not found elsewhere on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
Church in Harwich Center
The bikepath passes a block behind this church, and access to the town center, through the town hall parking lot, is well marked.
Intersection with Route 39
Bikepath lanes are separated with mini rotaries, on both sides of the road. In addition to physically warning of the impending intersection with a major road, they allow cyclists to turn back without crossing the street. The sign tells them to dismount and walk.
End of paved trail at Chatham line
The trail is projected to continue on to the center of Chatham, but it is not clear what the time scale is.
This bikepath is featured in the Fall 1999 magazine of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
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