The year started out with the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voting down a proposed section of the SGT trail on Route One on the town’s eastern border after the trail controversy dominated the end of 2016. Residents had expressed concern over property rights and the lack of an overall plan for the trail moving forward.

Trail talk seemed to die out in the spring, but found new life in the early summer with the proposed Nut Plains Pathway. As envisioned, the path would stretch more than two miles, beginning on the State Street side of the Adams Middle School property, running up to Nut Plains Road, crossing Goose Lane, eventually turning on North Madison Road, and ending near Guilford Lakes Elementary School. Town Engineer Jim Portley said the path would likely be made of concrete and be about six feet wide—wider than a sidewalk, so residents with the path in front of their property would not be required to provide snow removal.

The project was estimated to cost $1.6 million with 80 percent covered by committed federal funding, leaving the town to cover 20 percent or roughly $290,000. Portley previously said the town had already approved $140,000 for the project and the rest of the funds would be pulled from the Inland Roads bond. Portley said this path would also follow the 2002 Transportation Plan, which provided a blueprint for transportation including sidewalk improvements in town.

In May, the BOS confirmed its commitment to the project, but at a public information meeting in September, residents expressed concerns over property rights, the historic nature of Nut plains, pedestrian safety, and many other issues.

Over the fall months, the board eventually came to the conclusion that the town needs to look at transportation issues as a whole in Guilford. At the BOS meeting on Dec. 18, the board officially announced the town will establish a transportation committee of taskforce to look at all sides of the issue before moving forward with any specific proposals like the Nut Plains Pathway.