Framingham is one step closer to having a new rail trail that would connect the city to the region's bike network, providing commuters and families the chance for recreation and pollution-free travel.
On Monday, with a bit of fanfare and food, Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with CSX Corp., the Florida-based company that owns the right of way. The rail line has been sitting unused for more than 20 years after CSX abandoned it following a derailment in 2000.
The city negotiated a price of $5 million for more than 30 acres that make up the right of way. Framingham has 180 days to complete its due diligence for acquiring the property.
Developing the rail trail was one of Sisitsky’s goals as mayor. He was on the Board of Selectmen when a committee was created in the 2000s to explore creating the recreational trail.
“I’m amazed to see the progress here,” Sisitsky said in his remarks before the signing. “It’s just heartwarming to see the enthusiasm and all these smiling faces.”
More than 60 people gathered for the signing, including a few in yellow T-shirts, the friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. In some respects, the plan has been in the making for almost as long as the railway has been abandoned, according to trail friend, Framingham resident and former Town Meeting member Ed Kross, who described his feelings as those of “relief.”
“It’ll be even greater when I get to ride from here all the way up past Lowell,” he said, acknowledging that the project is going to take a few years to come to fruition. Rail trail development has picked up in recent years, though.
Nearby Sudbury has reached the “shovel in the ground” stage for its section of the overall project — a vision of more than 20 miles of uninterrupted, shared-use path. If completed, Framingham will have more than 3 miles of the rail trail running through the city.
All told, according to one person at the event who had scribbled out some calculations on a sticky note, it has taken more than 6,000 days from conception for the project to reach this point.
For some, the milestone was bittersweet. Planning, Community Development & Conservation Director Sarkis Sarkisian noted there are many who wanted to see this project come to fruition who are no longer with us, including Bruce Freeman himself.
Freeman, the state representative for whom the project was named, passed away in 1986. He was inspired to pursue the project through riding the Cape Cod Rail Trail and the Coyote Creek Bike Trail in California. In 1987, following Freeman's death, Bill H.1455 was introduced to create a recreational bike path named for him.
“All the rail trails that are being developed across Massachusetts right now — this is going to really put us in the forefront,” Sarkisian said. “This is really exciting.”
Sarkisian said the town's seal features a hub — the Cochituate rail trail, Bruce Freeman rail trail and eventually the East Coast Greenway will all feed into Framingham like that hub. Rail trails encourage millions of visitors annually and invite economic development, he said.
The city has received financial support through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to help pay for phases 1 and 2 of planning, and Congresswoman Katherine Clark set aside $500,000 in federal grant money for construction.
District 8 City Councilor John Stefanini said the rail trail will have a long-term effect, not just because recreation access is linked to “our health and our vitality.”
“This is a legacy that will live for a long time,” he said. “One that we live every day when you walk there, and it will be one that will help us all live, and work, and hopefully play in our community in a much better and healthier way.”
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Original story HERE.