Sudbury Clears Final Hurdles
The BFRT in Sudbury took three major steps forward as a result of articles passed at Town Meeting on May 3 and 4. First, the town approved articles for temporary construction easements, authorized the town to sign the 99-year lease with MassDOT for the rail trail corridor and gave permission for easements on town owned land for access to the rail trail. These were the final acts needed for MassDOT to issue the Right of Way Certificate and prepare the project to go out for construction bidding.
Construction of the 4.4 miles of the BFRT in Sudbury, Phase 2D, should begin this fall or next spring. Passage of the Town Meeting articles means construction of the last half mile of the trail in Concord, from the culvert at Power Mill Road to the Sudbury line, which has been waiting for Sudbury to complete its design and permitting, can also begin. Construction will take about two years. Second, Town Meeting approved $500,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds for amenities along Phase 2D, north of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT), such as construction oversight, environmental monitors, utility connections and interpretative panels not covered by state and federal funding.
Third, Town Meeting approved an additional $300,000 in CPA funding for design of the one quarter mile between the diamond, that is where the MCRT intersects with the BFRT, to Sudbury’s commercial district at Rte. 20. This short but vital stretch of the rail trail will assure safe, uninterrupted passage, almost 20 miles, from Lowell to central Sudbury. The funds will also be used for a feasibility study to extend the BFRT an additional mile, along the former CSX rail corridor, from Rt. 20 to the Framingham line. Framingham is aggressively moving to acquire its 3-mile section of the CSX corridor beginning at the Sudbury line, to further extend the rail trail into Framingham.
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