Leverett voters approve $100,000 access trail to conservation land

Leverett voters approved a $100,000 appropriation on May 2 for a 600-foot drivable trail connecting Woodard’s Corner with the Blueberry Patch conservation property.

The decision came at the town’s Annual Town Meeting. The money will come from Leverett’s Community Preservation Act account and is intended to cover permitting and construction of the access route.

Access to the Blueberry Patch

The proposed trail would run from Woodard’s Corner to the Blueberry Patch, a former Christmas tree farm that is now conservation land. Its planned length is 600 feet, making it a short access connection rather than a broader trail network.

The project may also help resolve a Land Court lawsuit that has prevented the public from using the property’s main trailhead on Shutesbury Road. The legal dispute is part of the access issue surrounding the conservation property.

The town meeting approval authorizes Leverett to move ahead with the access project. It does not indicate that the trail is already open or that construction has been completed. The public report on the vote also does not establish that the Land Court case has been dismissed.

One of several town meeting decisions

The conservation-land appropriation was one of several decisions made May 2. Voters also approved an $8.45 million town budget and voted to retain Leverett’s historic library, according to local reporting.

Leverett’s Community Preservation Committee annual plan identifies projects advanced for consideration during the 2026 Town Meeting cycle. The Community Preservation Act account provides the funding source for the Blueberry Patch access project and other local preservation and municipal work considered by the town.

For residents, the immediate result is approval of a funding path for an alternative approach to the conservation property. The route is intended to provide access from Woodard’s Corner while the dispute over the Shutesbury Road trailhead remains part of the project’s background.

The next known steps are permitting and construction. A completion date and final permitting status have not been announced.