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Sudbury Town Crier
Thursday, March 15, 2007
To The Editor,
As the President of the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, I feel
I need to respond to a Letter to the Editor from Jim Nigrelli published
on February 22, 2007. As my perspective is regional, I will focus on
broader and regional issues rather than Sudbury specific ones.
Mr. Nigrelli states that thousands of non-Sudbury residents will use
the
proposed BFRT. I agree. As envisioned, the BFRT will be a 25-mile long
trail from Lowell through Sudbury into Framingham and we hope and
expect
that many from out-of-town will visit, stop to walk in the conservation
areas adjacent to the trail and potentially shop in Sudbury.
Conversely,
we hope and expect residents from Sudbury will use the BFRT to travel
across town borders. We expect many will choose to bike to the West
Concord commuter rail station, or commute to jobs in Framingham. For
summer recreation, citizens of Sudbury will have a chance to travel
north to Acton along Nashoba Brook and purchase a day-pass for swimming
at NARA Park. Heartier souls could choose to commute or go to the
movies
near Crosspoint Towers in Lowell. The BFRT is a regional trail and its
many benefits and costs need to be considered at both the local and
regional level.
Mr. Nigrelli brings up the cost of policing and maintenance, but fails
to mention that such costs have been minimal, not even worthy of a line
item in many municipal budgets for towns along nearby rail trails:
Minuteman Bikeway, Nashua River Rail Trail, and Assabet River Rail
Trail. Insurance costs also are not a real issue. The rail trail will
be
covered by the same law that protects towns from being sued when a
person breaks a leg playing soccer on a town owned field (see MGL
Chapter 21 Section 17c http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/21-17c.htm).
Mr. Nigrelli expressed concern that demand for rail trails is high,
while actual construction has been sparse and further, he has concerns
that there are no guarantees that the BFRT will be built. I agree there
are no guarantees, and the FBFRT has similar concerns over lack of rail
trail construction. But I also see that times are changing. The new
Patrick administration has made rail trails a high priority. We have
support of many local representatives and Senators (Call Senator
Resor’s
office and you will hear nothing but the strongest support for the
BFRT.) MassHighway has become much more rail trail friendly in the past
few years. This has culminated in integrating rail trails into the
MassHighway design guidelines Bible, rather than making rail trails a
lonely stepchild. Recently the BFRT received written assurances from
the
Commissioner of MassHighway that Phase 1 of the BFRT will be funded and
advertised as soon as a Transportation Bond Bill passes (and a Bond
Bill
must pass or we will have virtually no transportation construction in
the Commonwealth). See the letter at
http://www.brucefreemanrailtrail.org/pdf/MassHighway20070309.pdf. In
addition Westford, Carlisle, Acton and Concord are all currently
engaged
in preliminary design and real progress is being made.
One could take Mr. Nigrelli’s dour view that nothing will happen and
it
is all a waste of time and money, or one could look at the tidal wave
of
support for rail trails, and the need and desire for non-motorized
transportation corridors and linear parks. Those who take this latter
viewpoint believe investment in initial design, which is a prerequisite
to qualify for state and federal funding for 80 to 90 percent of the
trails costs, is worthwhile.
Further Mr. Nigrelli complains about a lack of vision (though never
defining exactly what that is), but in next breath, says he does not
want to spend CPA funds to better define Sudbury’s vision. This is a
classic Catch-22. Studies need to be done to answer questions and to
make plans. Unfortunately it takes money to carry out studies and
plans,
including the initial items on the April Sudbury Town Meeting Warrant.
Articles 22, 23 and 24 will help provide vision and inform plans. Using
Mr. Nigrelli’s argument one could, and I suggest should, find it
imperative to vote for these Articles and against Article 35 which asks
for postponement of any Town action concerning the BFRT. Passage of
supportive articles 22-24 and defeat of negative article 35 will ensure
Sudbury has an excellent foundation of information to create the vision
and plan he finds is so lacking.
Sincerely,
Tom Michelman
President – Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail
6 Magnolia Drive
Acton, MA 01720
978-580-6190
tmichelman@comcast.net
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