Category Archives: Medfield Rail Trail

The Bay Colony Rail Trail committee met last night, and I attended most of the meeting, until I excused myself to attend the continued ZBA hearing on the Gatehouse 40B on West Street.  These were the highlights that I heard =

• The state budget has $250,000 for the Bay Colony Rail Trail included, presumably inserted by Rep. Garlick. There was discussion on how that money would be accessed.
• A substantial anonymous donation has also been made to the BCRT.
• The cost to build the BCRT will run between $600,000 to $1.5 m., depending on the surface used.
• The iron available for salvage has a value of about $400,000.
• The committee plans a warrant article for the ATM in 2013.
• It was reported that the BCRT discussions were contentious at the Dover ATM, with some not wanting to even rebuild the bridge over the Charles River to Needham, so people could not get into Dover from Needham.  However, Dover’s strategic planning questionnaire demonstrated strong overwhelming town support for the BCRT if it does not cost the town any money.

The Boston Globe reported on Friday that the MBTA had voted, as expected, to lease for 99 years the old rail line to the three towns that are exploring whether to turn it into the Bay Colony Rail Trail.  The three towns, Medfield, Dover an d Needham, had written to the MBTA to ask whether the MBTA would lease the old right of way to them, and now each town must on its own decide whether it will accept the offer by the MBTA to lease the rail line.  Both Medfield and Dover have town committees looking at the issues invovled in developing the Bay Colony Rail Trail, and Needham has already established the Bay Colony Rail Trail as part of its master plan.

At is annual town meeting on Monday evening this week, Dover residents “overwhelmingly approved”  continued study of the Bay Colony Rail Trail, despite refusing to spend monies on two other recommended items, per an article on the Dover Patch –

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One of the most discussed articles of the evening was about spending $5,000 to study the feasibility of converting the Bay Colony railroad line into a rail trail. As has happened in many other communities, old rail beds are now being used as bike and walking trails. The article for a study in Dover was overwhelmingly approved.

The following was issued today by the Dover Rail Trail Committee –

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To the residents of Dover:

At the May 7 Town Meeting, Article 11 will request $5000 to continue the study of converting Dover’s rail bed into a rail trail. The presentation to be given at Town Meeting is an enhanced version of the one presented at the Warrant Committee’s Open Hearing on March 19 , which has been  on the Town website since then (scroll down the home page and then scroll through the Open Hearing presentations). The Dover Rail Trail Committee would like to provide some background information to you prior to Town Meeting.

Activity regarding the rail trail began 2 years ago.  In November 2009 there was a presentation to the Dover Board of Selectmen and abutters (over 80 had been notified by mail of the meeting) by the Bay Colony Rail Trail Association (BCRT), a non-profit formed to explore a rail trail in Medfield, Dover and Needham. Other than requesting that the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization  do a no-charge feasibility study there was no official action by Dover until June 2011, when  the BOS created the Dover Rail Trail Committee (RTC) with the charge to “develop a recommendation for the conversion of the Bay Colony rail bed into a recreational trail by working with all relevant boards, committees and departments in Dover…The final product should be a thorough report presenting a balanced discussion of the pros/cons of the conversion and suggested policies for all issues that must be addressed.”

In the Spring of 2011, the Planning Board released the results of the Master Plan Survey that had been distributed to all Dover residents during the winter. 681 citizens of Dover responded to the rail trail question:  Would you favor converting the unused rail line passing through Needham, Dover, and Medfield into a “rail trail” for walking and biking across the three towns? 

No                                                                                          159         24%

Yes, if private property can be protected             263         40%

Yes, if funded privately and/or by grant                                240         36%

Blank                                                                                       19

In addition, the BCRT sponsored a booth at the past two Dover Days Fairs and has accumulated a list of almost 100 Dover residents interested in a rail trail. Clearly, there was interest by Dover’s citizens to explore a rail trail and the BOS responded by creating this committee.

Since June 2011, the activities of the RTC have been discussed at 17 Selectmen’s meetings, including numerous pleas for volunteers (pro, con and neutral) to join the committee, a message that was also on the Dover website for months; two articles appeared in Globe West; and discussions were held with the Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee. Minutes have been posted promptly on the Dover website. And, finally, for those interested in learning more, the RTC committee members have been available to speak to anyone interested in our progress.

The RTC requested that the Selectmen put this article on the Warrant in order to obtain a small amount of funds in case we need them as we conduct the study. We are NOT asking for a vote to build a rail trail. This warrant article only asks for funds to study the issue so Dover’s citizens can be presented at the May 2013 Town Meeting (the current target date) with a complete study that addresses all the questions raised by Dover’s residents, boards and committees. It will be fact-based and comprehensive.

The RTC does have a few working assumptions that have been publically discussed:  the trail will NOT be paved, will fit into the rural character of Dover, and will cost the citizens of Dover very little money.  Donations, grants, volunteer support and other non-profit opportunities are anticipated to cover the vast majority of the cost. Development of a detailed financial plan will, of course, be part of the study.

Although there are already  60 questions on our list to study, the committee will be reaching out to everyone in Dover for input. The more questions the better. The questions will be researched, looked at from a Dover-centric perspective, and information will be obtained from the many communities in Massachusetts that have dealt with these issues so we can learn from those who have already completed the process of making a decision about a local rail trail in  their community.

This is a complex issue. The study should be done because over 700 citizens, through the survey and BCRT, have expressed their opposition, support or desire to truly understand the project before voting on its possible implementation. We urge you to support our efforts to provide you with a complete and thoughtful study and recommendation.

Thank you.

The Dover Rail Trail Committee

April 27, 2012

From Bay Colony Rail Trail Study Committee (nice article in Globe West Weekly today too)-

Please visit the FAQ section on the BCRT website for an overview of frequently asked questions and preliminary answers that reflect the current state of the research of study groups in all three towns.

Dover selectman, Carol Lisbon reports –

Dover will have $5000 warrant article for the May 7 Town meeting to be used for further study of rail trail feasibility. We are hoping to have a brief presentation available for the March 19 Open hearing with a more detailed one for the Town Meeting.

Last night the Medfield selectmen voted, without much discussion or issues being raised, to accept the recommendations of our town’s Rail Trail Study Committee to

1. send the expression of interest letter to the MBTA – it was signed last night and should go out today, and
2. put a warrant article forward to the annual town meeting inquiring whether the town wants to proceed with development of the Bay Colony Rail Trail and also to appropriate $1,000 for those purpose.  The money was added just to avoid the lack of clear status of warrant articles without any spending attached.

The ad hoc 4 town Bay Colony Rail Trail group met yesterday with representatives from the MBTA.  Turns out the MBTA has turned over to towns over two dozen old rail lines, and all the procedural glitches have been pretty much worked out by now.

The process of the towns obtaining the old Bay Colony Railroad right of way is easy and straightforward, with the exception that Bay Colony still holds the freight rights to the line and it needs to abandon the line, which it is willing to do, just not pay to do.  Reports were that it will cost $10-15,000 in attorney fees to effect the abandonment.

Study committees are getting active in Dover and Medfield.  Needham already has creation of the Bay Colony Rail Trail as a listed priority on its trails master plan.