The Bay Colony Rail Trail

The Newton Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force launched a website to promote the conversion of the Newton Upper Falls Greenway. For a detailed map and more information, visit http://www.upperfallsgreenway.org.

The Rails-To-Trails Conservancy site reported recently on their 25th anniversary reception in downtown Washington, D.C., earlier this month, where Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was a featured speaker. According to the article, Secretary LaHood said that encouraging more biking and walking is one of the most important things we can do in the nation's battle against obesity and related illness. He also said the rail-trail program "has done more for health care than anything we've ever done in America. Rail-trails have contributed so much to people's good health over the last 25 years--also preventing heart disease, and providing the kinds of opportunities people have looked for, for a long, long time."

The Danvers Rail Trail Advisory Committee has created an excellent 57 page Development / Maintenance / Management document for their new rail trail:

PDF file is 6.8 mb, link is HERE  or HERE

BCRT organizers in Needham are holding an open public meeting on Wednesday, May 11th at the Broadmeadow School (120 Broad Meadow Road in Needham) at 7:30. All are welcome, especially Needham residents!

The agenda includes updates on the rail trail progress, including the exciting new developments that could lead to an unpaved trail in a much shorter time frame.

MassBike and the Bay Colony Rail Trail are hosting a tour on May 28th along the route of the old Charles River Railroad.  A portion of this route is the very corridor where the Bay Colony Rail Trail will be developed.

The Charles River Railroad was how they brought in all the gravel to fill the Back Bay. It was also the base on which entrepreneurs the second half of the 18th century thought that they could build one of the major railroads of Southern New England, with grandiose names like the Boston and New York Central Railroad, and later the New York and New England Railroad.  They were wrong, and the entire system, including what was left of the Charles River Railroad was taken over by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad at the end of the 1800’s.

Location

Join us on May 21st for the second annual Needham Bike Fair. Like last year, the Bike Fair will feature several great events all held at the Newman Elementary School in Needham, including:

Frequently Asked Questions About Creating an Interim, Low-Cost Rail Trail

The Bay Colony Rail Trail is investigating the prospect of working with an organization called Iron Horse Preservation Society to remove the rails and ties from the unused railroad corridor running through Medfield, Dover, Needham and Newton. Once the existing materials are removed, the organization would create a crushed stone path – potentially at no cost to the community. This would result in the creation of a “linear park” as a recreational and environmental resource for the community that could reach completion in less time than most rail-trail projects across the country.