In response to krm’s review, Springfield Riverwalk advocates acknowledge that he has identified many of the trail’s problems: isolation, a sense of entrapment, ugliness, litter, trash and confrontations with members of the urban underclass. I am grateful to him for describing what he saw and experienced, because his review, coming from an outside observer, will be useful in shaming public officials into solving these problems, all of which have been repeatedly brought to their attention over the past three years.

I do wonder, however, whether his walks took him over all 3.7 miles of the trail from the Chicopee line all the way to the south terminus. I say this because the problems he describes exist in the middle of the Riverwalk around Clinton Street and to a lesser extent south of Riverfront Park, but do not exist north of the Clinton Street pumping station, between there and the Chicopee line. This section, accessible via the grade crossing at the North End Bridge (Route 20 or West Street), at Plainfield Street and elsewhere on Riverside Road, is well-maintained and borders a quiet, pleasant residential neighborhood.

So I cannot agree though with krm’s solution which is to take down the signs leading to it and caution visitors not to use the Riverwalk. That is, to abandon it. First of all, the Springfield Riverwalk constitutes 3.7 miles smack in the middle of the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway, a projected 21 mile regional trail. The Riverwalk exists; it is paid for, and even were it to be abandoned, it would remain a trouble spot for the foreseeable future. A better answer is that the city and the region step up to challenges the Riverwalk presents today, and by solving them, turn this ugly duckling into the handsome swan it was meant to be.

I have walked the Springfield section three times alone and at different times of day. I am a 6 ft., 195 lb. male. All three times I felt uncomfortable and on "edge." The trail is isolated and not pretty. I observed litter, including condoms and well worn trash. All of my visits included close encounters with bad apples, not people excercising or enjoying a walk.

This trail is a disaster waiting to happen. All signs leading to it should be taken down. All out of town visitors should be steered away. I would not walk the trail with my family. Nobody should walk this trail alone and women should go in groups of four with cell phones at the ready!

On my last visit, a man turned around and followed me to the dead end at the South End bridge. I had the river on one side and a large fence on the other. The only way out was through him. I had my phone on 911 and prayed he was not armed. He looked hard at me and I at him, but he moved over. This was my last visit, I have a young family.

Local users of the Springfield segment of the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway in Springfield would take issue with Jorbidy’s review of July 20, 2009. In a series of frank assessments over the past two years of this trail which runs the entire length of Springfield’s riverfront, odors have never been noted as a problem. And while it is undeniable that the central section has its share of urban “edge” including illegal dump sites and shady characters, sections north of West Street and south of Riverfront are well-maintained, well-policed and family-friendly. In fact, negative buzz and lack of use are two of this trail’s greatest problems, and it would be a shame if reviews published on the R-t-C site were to perpetuate them.