Recreation trail has long-awaited debut

SAUGUS – It has been 20 years in the making but the Saugus Community Recreation Trail is open for business.”Steve Winslow was trying to get this done for 20 years and the dream has finally come true,” said Bike to the Sea President Jim Tozza, referring to Bike to the Sea founder.Founded in 1993, Bike to the Sea is a nonprofit that promotes the development of a bicycle and pedestrian trail from the Malden area to the beaches of Lynn, Nahant and Revere.Tozza, along with Bike to the Sea Project Manager Clay Larsen, state Rep. Donald Wong, Selectmen Michael Serino, Julie Mitchell, Steve Horlick and Steve Castinetti and Town Manager Scott Crabtree gathered in the rain and unveiled a plaque Wednesday heralding the official opening of the town’s portion of the rail trail.The plaque, which lists board members and Crabtree, will be mounted on a granite stone and placed at the School Street entrance to the trail, Serino said.Serino thanked a host of people who have helped over the years including the Department of Public Works, Boy Scout Troop 62, local contractor Steve Agganis, Steven Cooper and Aggregate Industries.Tozza also thanked Larsen for overseeing the project and Serino for overseeing Larsen.The town’s 2.5-mile portion of the trail starts at the Revere line near Salem Street and runs across Essex Street at School, where a plaque will be placed, goes past the Belmonte Middle School, through Central Street to Chute Brook and out to Boston Street. The nonprofit group Iron Horse did the work to create the actual trail.The full trail starts in Everett and runs through Malden, Revere and Saugus with an eye on continuing into Lynn, Larsen said. To see the entire trail go to www.biketothesea.com and click on map.Crabtree acknowledged there was some risk to signing onto the project because it involved some digging in areas that may have contaminated soil from long-ago businesses. But he said concerns were allayed, and he felt the benefit of having a trail in the community was too great to pass up. Aside from getting people moving, statistics show that having a rail trail in town can have a positive impact on property values, he said.”Hopefully Lynn will follow suit and bring us all the way to the sea,” Crabtree said.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy has balked at the idea of joining on the project, citing litigation concerns but Larsen said they aren’t giving up.”We still have to work with Lynn,” said Tozza. “Revere will be done the end of October, first week of November. Next will be Lynn, when everyone gets on board.”