Biking the Boston 'Burbs (Trails, MDC, & Towns beyond Hubway area)

[F-Line to Dudley]

MAPC recommended this a while back. Do you know if there's been anything towards that end since?

No. The towns have pivoted to the Mystic Highlands Greenway along adjacent streets and completing the Wakefield-Lynnfield rail trail on the ex-B&M Newburyport Branch as first steps. The T is probably going to be a bear to deal with about claiming their drainage ditch for a path and relocating signal utility poles, so it'll probably be a fairly pricey project that takes many years to come to fruition. But the towns are being smart about it taking first initiative with the lower-impact MHG path network, because if the utilization of that ends up being good it puts more pressure to get some more grade separation and routing directness along the Commuter Rail ROW.

 

[rocketwidget]

At long last, 7.6 Miles of the Mass Central Rail Trail - Wayside from Sudbury to Hudson has been paved as of today. Has been in the works since at least the 1990s despite various NIMBYs trying to kill this project. Picture from today and posted on the Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Central_Rail_Trail#MCRT—Wayside

Construction is still ongoing.

Map: https://masstrailtracker.com/map?segment=130

 

[RandomWalk]

I expect that folks near the Reformatory Branch Trail look at that image as a near miss. I look at it and see what could have been.

 

[bigeman312]

I expect that folks near the Reformatory Branch Trail look at that image as a near miss. I look at it and see what could have been.

Both are good. A more natural path that invites a lower volume of guests into nature and a more efficient trail that can carry a higher volume and speed of users. Both are good. I wouldn’t want to live in a world with neither, as a lover of both the Reformatory Branch Path and the Mass Central’s potential

 

[rocketwidget]

Both are good. A more natural path that invites a lower volume of guests into nature and a more efficient trail that can carry a higher volume and speed of users. Both are good. I wouldn’t want to live in a world with neither, as a lover of both the Reformatory Branch Path and the Mass Central’s potential

I agree with you in general, you can build a natural ADA accessible trail of materials such as compacted stone dust, and they can be great, especially if maintained. I also appreciate a mix of both.

The big problem I have with the Reformatory Branch vote is not the loss of paving per-se, but the associated loss of also building safety features. The project included a tunnel specifically because the Concord road crosswalk was already known to be hazardous, among other safety features.

I don't think the construction timeline would have worked out to save this person's life even if the vote was positive, but regardless, after the vote someone has now been killed, walking her bike across the Concord road trail crosswalk.

https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2024/07/pedestrian-struck-by-car-on-concord-road-crosswalk-dies/

 

[chumbolly]

I agree with you in general, you can build a natural ADA accessible trail of materials such as compacted stone dust, and they can be great, especially if maintained. I also appreciate a mix of both.

The big problem I have with the Reformatory Branch vote is not the loss of paving per-se, but the associated loss of also building safety features. The project included a tunnel specifically because the Concord road crosswalk was already known to be hazardous, among other safety features.

This is exactly how I feel about the issue. A fair bit of the trail is in good enough shape (essentially the portion that runs adjacent to/through the wildlife refuge) and it is lovely. But the portions approaching Concord Road from Concord and the portion approaching Lowell road past Monument street should be improved for safety and accessibility reasons. Some residents in Concord saw the proposed paving of the Bedford portion as a threat that would lead MAPC and others to advocate for the continuation of a paved trail past the refuge and ultimately extending further on the old rail bed around Nashawtuc Hill. Those voices carried the day at Town Meeting in 2022, and will likely continue to oppose any improvements such as a tunnel or removal of trees growing in the trail for the foreseeable future.

 

[HenryAlan]

Set up a meeting between the towns and MBTA that finally happened today. There are obvious concerns on their end but very happy that they're not dismissing it out of hand. It looks like this is likely to proceed to a feasibility study for the segment between Bruce Freeman and Mass Central Rail Trails sometime next fiscal year.

This would be a game changer, completely opening up reasonable bike routes between Boston and multiple metro-west destinations.

 

[KCasiglio]

Sorry to take so long to come back to this! We had to iron out some of the logistics with the municipal partnerships and it looks like we'll have counters out for 4 weeks at a time rather than 2. That said I'm happy to share we'll be deploying them for the first time in Rockland for the month of May! The counters will be at the following locations:

1) Rail Trail between Plain St and Linden St
2) Rail Trail between Union St and Howard St
3) Taunton Ave near Union
4) Union St just south of VFW Drive
5) Union just south of the Rockland Library
6) Market near entrance to Studley's Pond

We also have Salem on the calendar for September. Hopeful I'll be able to share a more complete calendar soon.

In addition to Salem in September I'm happy to share we will be in Beverly in August and Lincoln in October.

Salem count locations:

 

[bigeman312]

I agree with you in general, you can build a natural ADA accessible trail of materials such as compacted stone dust, and they can be great, especially if maintained. I also appreciate a mix of both.

The big problem I have with the Reformatory Branch vote is not the loss of paving per-se, but the associated loss of also building safety features. The project included a tunnel specifically because the Concord road crosswalk was already known to be hazardous, among other safety features.

I don't think the construction timeline would have worked out to save this person's life even if the vote was positive, but regardless, after the vote someone has now been killed, walking her bike across the Concord road trail crosswalk.

https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2024/07/pedestrian-struck-by-car-on-concord-road-crosswalk-dies/

I 100% agree with you and in fact, I laid out exactly what this would have looked like leading up to the vote:

October 24, 2022

There are aspects of the project I'd like to see completed and other aspects of the projects that I would not like to see completed.

The most no-brainer improvements proposed are:

• Extension of the bikeway along Railroad Avenue:
  • A raised shared-use path along the south side of Railroad Avenue that would maintain crossing access for abutting businesses and residents.
  • A new five foot sidewalk on the north side of the road.
  • Repaving with new striping.
  • A new closed drainage system to decrease flooding.
• New 11-space permeable pavement parking lot where Railroad Avenue and the Reformatory Branch Trail meet:
  • New landscaping features, benches, bicycle racks, signage, etc.
• Ramp from the path to the end of Evans Avenue for access to the trail.
• A non-motorized crossing at the end of Turf Meadow Rd for access to and across the trail.
• Seperate the bikeway from the Water Department's access driveway east of Hartwell Rd:
  • Driveway and path separated by a vegetated buffer with new tree plantings.
• Improvements to the Hartwell Rd crossing:
  • Accessible crossing with flashing pedestrian signal to warn motorists of users crossing the road is proposed. This would be an improvement and I'm on board with that.
    • Personally, in a perfect world, I'd rather sever the automobile connection and have Hartwell Rd dead-end on either side of the path with a non-motorized crossing connecting across the path.
• New 15-space permeable pavement parking lot at the end of Lavender Lane:
  • Landscaped to provide screening for the nearby homes.
  • Benches, signange, bicycle racks, etc.
  • Non-motorized crossing connection to the adjoining conservation land trail network.
• New 15-space permeable pavement parking lot off of Concord Rd:
  • Landscaping, water fountain, picnic table, bicycle racks, signage, etc.
• Underpass under Concord Rd:
  • 10 ft tall by 18ft wide underpass.
  • Accessible ramp connection.
  • New sidewalk to Bonnievale Drive.

These aspects of the project improve access to the trail and improve connections to the Minuteman without destroying the existing natural, dirt trail.

You’ll also notice this was a vehemently opposed stance and had me labeled “on the wrong side of history.”

Unfortunately, our culture opposes listening to each other to find compromises that most people can agree are positive steps. Instead of being presented with an option like the one I’ve laid out, people were presented with an all-or-nothing, and now a person is dead.

 

[RandomWalk]

I would want to see the Reformatory Branch get a smoother stone dust surface, if that would work under the MAAB standards. However, it’s all moot because the town gave up after the second vote.

 

[themissinglink]

I really want to see the Upper Charles Trail through Holliston get paved, but I'm not sure if there's even been a proposal to pave it.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I really want to see the Upper Charles Trail through Holliston get paved, but I'm not sure if there's even been a proposal to pave it.

DCR and/or the towns don't own it yet. It's still CSX property with the towns paying a nominal monthly rent, so they weren't given much choice in surfaces as crushed stone was all that the landlord would allow. To do anything else would require first resolving the ownership situation.