WESTFIELD — News that the downtown section of Westfield’s rail trail won’t be completed until next year was a blow to the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, and the group is worried about more than just the delay.

Carmel Steger, president of the Friends, said the nonprofit board is planning to write a letter to the mayor, to MassDOT, its contractor New England Infrastructure and the City Council, and ask for a timeline when work will resume.

“With a 407-day extension, [what if] they decide that there are other communities that are their priorities? We don’t have a lot of faith in the contractor,” Steger said.

Portions of the trail are already paved, including segments near Main, Chapel and Orange streets, but the downtown section won’t open until the whole length is ready, including repairs and decking on a bridge over Elm Street. Steger is concerned about the protection of the completed segments.

“If you go up on the trail, all the vandalism is occurring on the fences,” Steger said. “There is vandalism up there because there is nobody up there.”

For now, the rail trail is open from the Southwick town line to a trailhead on Main Street. The current northern end of the rail trail, a bridge over the Westfield River connecting the Esplanade path with Women’s Temperance Park, is also open.

MassDOT recently informed the city that the state’s contract with New England Infrastructure to complete the central section has been extended another 407 days. Steger said that City Engineer Mark Cressotti reported on the contract extension at a meeting on April 19, and said there is no progress happening right now.

The delay involved the raising of the former Elm Street railroad bridge by 3 inches, to meet the state’s clearance requirement of 14 feet, 6 inches. When the first attempt was made to jack up the circa-1854 bridge last year, workers were relying on certain parts of the bridge that weren’t suitable, and had to shore it up with a temporary bracing.

The contractor recently made repairs and removed the bracing, and will make a second attempt to jack up the bridge later this spring, according to the Engineering Department.

At the April 19 meeting, Cressotti also reported on the feasibility study being done by Toole Design to extend the rail trail north from Women’s Temperance Park to meet a future rail trail being planned in Southampton. That project, too, has hit a snag, as residents of one neighborhood along the preferred route don’t want the added traffic on their streets.

Steger, who serves on the study group, said Toole Design will have one more meeting with residents and the city in May or June to present their recommendations on the best connector route. While the meeting is not yet scheduled, the city posted its final feasibility study report on the multi-use trail connector on April 21 at www.cityofwestfield.org/828/feasibility-study---mutli-use-trail-conn.

During and after the third public meeting for the study, residents of Kittredge Drive and surrounding streets spoke against the plan to bring the trail onto their neighborhood streets, which are tucked in between Southampton Road and the Arm Brook Dam.

The residents have since gathered a petition with more than 80 signatures of residents asking the mayor and city to remove the Kittredge Drive-Barbara Street neighborhood from “Route A,” the preferred routing of the northern connector, which they said would have “a significant adverse impact on our peaceful neighborhood.”

Steger said Toole Design is looking at alternatives for that segment of Route A, but she added that as it stands right now, most of Route A seems to be the most reasonable. Starting at Women’s Temperance Park, Route A would follow Elm Street to Montgomery Street, cut across the Westfield High School and Powdermill Brook Reservoir properties, cross Interstate 90 adjacent to the Pioneer Valley Railroad, then follow along I-90 to the Westfield Dog Bark.

“We need to hear the final conclusions of the feasibility study,” Steger said, adding that there are many complex segments along the route that would have to be resolved. “Our hope is that it would connect at schools for a non-vehicle way of transportation.”

The final study noted the objections of the residents, and said that section of Route A remains undetermined: “This study established a route through a neighborhood above I-90, and during a public meeting, residents expressed heavy opposition to the recommended alignment. Given the constraints of this study, the preferred route is considered undetermined north of I-90, and the study recommends further study of other route options. Coordination with residential abutters is essential to establishing a preferred route in this area.”

Steger said the connector is intended to meet a MassDOT redesign of Southampton Road (Route 10), where the state agency is incorporating a bike lane “without our input at all.” She said that work is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The Route 10 bike lane would connect Westfield with the existing Manhan rail trail network in Easthampton and Northampton. Adding the northern connector and downtown segment of the Columbia Greenway would eventually result in a continuous bicycle trail from Northampton to central Connecticut.

“If we had a North Side trail path, that would connect all sorts of people,” Steger said.

Meanwhile, while they wait for the future, the Friends are shifting gears in support of the city’s recently passed Complete Streets initiative, and spoke in favor of the initiative at several public hearings before the positive vote by the City Council.

“We’re in full support of Complete Streets, and want to be at the table for any neighborhood that will include Complete Streets,” she said.

The Friends are also sponsoring a free ValleyBike Share demonstration from noon to 2 p.m. on May 7 by the rail trail’s Main Street ramp at Stop & Shop downtown.

ValleyBike Share is an electric assist bike rental program. Users can check out bikes from docking stations near where they are and return them to stations near their destination. ValleyBike expanded to West Springfield last year, and organizer Jonathan McHatton, director of planning and development for the Friends, said Westfield is in the next group of towns being considered for further expansion.

At the demonstration, people will be able to test the bikes on a short ride, to get a feel for how the electric assist on the bikes works. McHatton said riders still have to turn the pedals to make the bike go, but the electric motor makes it easier to climb hills, for example.

Another upcoming event being planned is a volunteer clean-up day for Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts Health Plan employees, which is an annual Day of Caring event.

Steger said if there are people interested in helping do clean-up from 9 a.m. to noon on June 15, they may email information@columbiagreenway.org.