Fairhaven officials and residents gathered for a ribbon cutting celebrating the refreshed Phoenix Rail Trail, capping months of construction that brought new pavement, raised crossings and accessibility upgrades to the roughly 4.5-mile path. The improvements were designed to make the trail, which winds through Fairhaven's forests, salt marshes and neighborhoods, safer and more comfortable for walkers, cyclists and anyone passing through.
As reported by New Bedford Guide, Fairhaven Public Works implemented raised crossings and addressed roadway intersections along the multi-use path as part of the project. Crews also handled pavement overlays, ADA enhancements, drainage adjustments, curb installations and crossing geometric realignments, work that began in the spring of 2026 and required temporary trail closures while town updates tracked progress moving from areas near the Mattapoisett line toward the center of town.
Miles Grant, a member of the Fairhaven Planning Board, highlighted the improvements during the celebration, according to the same report. Andrew Romano, a member of the Fairhaven Select Board, also joined the ribbon-cutting gathering, and McGraw's Back Porch Ice Cream provided treats for the occasion.
A Trail Named for a Revolutionary War Landmark
The trail's name traces back to local schoolchildren, who named it after nearby Fort Phoenix, a historic seaside fort less than a mile south of the downtown trailhead and the site of the first naval battle of the American Revolution, according to TrailLink. The corridor itself follows the original right-of-way of the Fairhaven Branch Railroad, which opened in 1854 and operated under the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad until 1953 before its formal conversion into a public rail-trail in 1999, the same source notes.
That history now carries a much different kind of traffic. The path offers an accessible route for residents and visitors of all ages and abilities, per the New Bedford Guide's account, and includes a spur toward Little Bay. Public parking is available at the Main Street trailhead downtown and at the Arsene Street lot, which connects directly to a 1-mile spur leading to the Little Bay Overlook, according to Komoot.
One Link in a Much Bigger Regional Network
The Phoenix Rail Trail is part of the regional South Coast Bikeway, and its significance extends well beyond Fairhaven's borders. The completed trail forms a 4.5-mile segment of the planned 50-mile South Coast Bikeway, a continuous multi-use system meant to link ten municipalities from Swansea near the Rhode Island line to Wareham near Cape Cod, according to the Town of Dartmouth.
At the Fairhaven-Mattapoisett town line, the trail connects with the Mattapoisett Rail Trail, where the elevated Shining Tides boardwalk opened in 2023 to carry trail users over sensitive coastal marshes and the Mattapoisett River, as reported by The Wanderer. Near that same stretch, the Shaw Farm Trail provides direct pedestrian access to the Nasketucket Bay State Reservation, letting cyclists and walkers reach unpaved hiking paths along the rocky shores of Nasketucket Bay, according to the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
The trail's reach stretches even further on the map. It is officially designated as part of the East Coast Greenway's coastal route, a developing 3,000-mile non-motorized trail network running from Maine to Florida, per TrailLink's research.
State Dollars Fueling a Patchwork of Projects
The rehabilitation also received state funding. The Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded $500,000 through the state MassTrails grant program specifically to fund the Phoenix Rail Trail Rehabilitation Project across its 3.3-mile core stretch in Fairhaven, according to the East Coast Greenway.
State officials have also committed $285,000 for engineering and design of a proposed 9.8-mile Northern Scenic Greenway through Westport, Dartmouth and New Bedford, aimed at closing one of the largest remaining gaps in the regional system, between Fall River and New Bedford, the East Coast Greenway reports. Closer to home, Hoodline previously reported that state transit officials are eyeing a new bike-ped ramp on the Route 6 Acushnet River bridge between New Bedford and Fairhaven, a project meant to help urban cyclists safely connect to the South Coast Bikeway network near the newly refreshed trail.
Taken together, officials and trail users say the refreshed Phoenix Rail Trail should make outings more enjoyable and safer going forward, with the path serving as a key recreational asset for the South Coast that supports outdoor activity and links neighborhoods with the natural areas around them.
