The Mattapoisett Rail Trail is experiencing stop-and-go growing pains as plans to build are met with red tape and waiting, a familiar trend for the 15 years since the path’s conception. Yet in the last few years progress has been made. In 2009 the first mile of the trail, “The Old Colony Mile,” was inaugurated. In May of this year work was completed in widening the bridge located between Reservation Road and Mattapoisett Neck Road. All work was done by Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School.

The path is slated to expand through the town and eventually along the entire south coast, connecting with towns such as Fall River and Dartmouth.

Steve Kelleher, chairman for the bike path committee, is optimistic about the path’s future. According to him, design plans have been sent to state officials to approve.

“Once the final design plans are reviewed,” he said, “a public meeting should be held in the fall to discuss our goals.”

Kelleher, who has been with the project since it began, said he was very optimistic. Until that meeting, though, money is still being raised to fund Phase 1b, named “The Shining Tides Mile.” This phase stretches from Mattapoisett Neck Road to Depot Street.

“The state’s process for building bike paths is so arduous,” says Bonne DeSousa, president of the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bicycle and Recreational Path. “It’s a tremendously complicated process that involves property rights, environmental issues, and just getting public support.”

DeSousa was at Harbor Days raising money to build a bridge over the western breach at Eel Pond, which is now totally funded. Though a donation of easement from the YMCA has been confirmed, DeSousa said progress will be slow.

“Until the real bike path is made at the YMCA,” DeSousa said, “People are just traveling across their property. That wouldn’t be so much a problem except the YMCA runs day cares and other events, and they’re cautious about who is on their property.”

An unpaved path extends from Mattapoisett Neck Road to Reservation Road and includes the newly-built bridge. DeSousa, however, mentioned it is mostly a walking path due to the possibility of bikes getting flat tires.

“Once this is resolved,” she said, “other things we’ve been waiting on can happen. Over the last 6 months, there’s been a great deal of activity in Fall River and Dartmouth and Wesport regarding building paths as well. It’s so important in these economically challenging times to band together and stay funded.”

Earlier this month John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released his plans for a bill that could, according to DeSousa, eliminate funding for bike and pedestrian paths.

“All these towns will be pushing at the state level so we can be more forthcoming for assistance,” she said. “We have to keep trying.”