LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Rail Trail project is alive and well.
“The rail trail is still moving forward and we look forward to it being built in our town,” said Town Administrator Rob Dolan. “Who would have imagined the last two years, but we want to be up front and clear that the rail trail is front and center on the town agenda and our plan is to move as quickly as the state allows us.”
Rail trails are multipurpose public paths created from former railroad corridors. The paths are ideal for many types of activities including walking, bicycling, wheelchair use, inline skating, cross-country skiing and horseback riding.
According to Friends of the Lynnfield Rail Trail President Vince Inglese, there are approximately 70 rail trails running through 100 communities in Massachusetts, including Danvers, Peabody, Topsfield, Amesbury and Boxford.
Dolan, Inglese, Town Engineer Charlie Richter and Department of Public Works Director John Tomasz appeared together on the June 23 Town Talk program to update the public on the status of the project.
Dolan said the town is finishing the design phase of the project and going through the regulatory process in terms of the path of the trail and known environmental issues. The town had been working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and some of the project’s contractors throughout the pandemic to keep the project moving forward.
“We are excited to see the progress we have made,” said Inglese. “Naturally, we want to try to keep things moving in a timely and prudent manner, but we do know nothing great happens easily. We have to be patient with the process.”
Richter said the town has communicated regularly with the Town of Wakefield and project consultant World Tech Engineering and has also met with environmental groups, including Essex Heritage.
“We are now in the process of completing the layout and the preliminary design,” said Richter. “The goal is 75 percent design, which even though there still is a lot of permitting to be done, we will have pretty much the entire project design at 75 percent by 2022. We are proceeding full steam ahead on design.”
Dolan noted that due to the pandemic economy, MassDOT has prioritized rail trails and questioned whether this is still the case in 2021.
“Yes, this is a very important project for MassDOT as the final link for this rail-trail system,” Richter said. “They are fully behind this project.”
According to Inglese, the Wakefield component of the trail is nearly complete.
“That 1.9-mile stretch is a key part of our project and it’s exciting that it is being completed, maybe this summer,” said Inglese, adding that there may be an opportunity to expedite the funding process.
“If our design is completed before funding dates of other community projects, we may be able to move up the STIP (State Transportation Investment Program) list if the other towns aren’t ready,” he said.
Officially known as the Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail, the project has been discussed for more than two decades, often as the subject of intense debate in Lynnfield. In September 2019, voters at a special town meeting debated for nearly an hour before approving, by a vote of 585-380, to appropriate $348,000 for design costs.
The project will convert the former Newburyport Railroad bed into a recreational trail that provides for safe off-road connection to the town’s key resources. The cost for construction of the trail will be paid by federal funding (80 percent) and state funding (20 percent).
The trail starts near the Wakefield Commuter Rail station and passes through two Wakefield schools. It continues under I-95 (128) into Lynnfield via a 0.6-mile section of Reedy Meadow, and then winds past the middle school, Reedy Meadow Golf Course, the high school and ends at the Peabody border. The total length of the trail is 4.4 miles — 2.5 in Lynnfield and 1.9 in Wakefield.
“The goal is to take the natural and passive recreational areas and make the gem of the town,” Dolan said. “If we can get the rail trail done, Lynnfield will have many natural areas for people to enjoy just steps from their homes.”
Dolan noted that the Lynnfield Center Water District is working with Middleton, North Reading and Peabody to create paths and trails in the upper Main Street area.
“With COVID and people not having too many things to do, a lot of people bought bikes and also were walking outside,” said Dolan. “I’ve talked to a number of people who never experienced rail trails who have not only found them, but loved them all across the state. We are surrounded by a beautiful rail system and look forward to hopefully soon having the Lynnfield connection with other trails so people can enjoy them.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
