New Rail Trails in Massachusetts

[7rider]

Back in my bicycle advocacy days.....
...way back in 1994.....
..back when I lived on the North Shore of Massachusetts....
...I was involved with a group trying to put in a rail trail called "Border to Boston" - along that referred-to Topsfield line.
It's still not there. And the guy who was leading the charge so he could have a safe, fun place to take his kids to teach them the joys of bike riding and physical fitness....well, those kids are grown and (I think) in college - if not graduated - by this point.

[Crankin]

The abutters in Concord think that the trail will hurt the ecosystem by White's Pond. What they really think is that "weird people" will be riding by their homes. They definitely do not want a paved path, which eliminates access for many types of people/sports. It's really crazy to read about this in the local paper. There's a large group of people who really want the trail, but their voices are being drowned out by the negative ones. It's only 3.5 miles! But, it's a moot point because in order to connect the Concord portion to Acton, which will lead into the Westford/Chelmsford part, they have to build a tunnel under Rt. 2! That is supposed to happen in 2010 I think. I hope that really happens, because I actually live closer to West Concord center (where the trail will cross Rt. 2) than Concord center, but I can't ride the closest route, because obviously, I can't ride my bike through the rotary to West Concord. I have to ride through Concord center, across Rt. 62, which is about 5.3 miles, as opposed to 3 miles.

[Zen]

I attended a meeting just this evening put on by "Friends of Frederick county" and one of the local bike shops. The first slide he showed was the cover of the bike trails plan. The date on it was 1999. We have 5 miles of trails built. I guess you have to start somewhere.

It does sound feasible, though as the cost of building the trails is put on the developers . Planning is paid for by the county. What does this mean? If/when the trail system is built it will be a grand tour of office parks.